Clyde Mobbley has been ousted as president of the NDP’s Muskoka-Parry Sound riding association after urging local voters to vote for the Green Party.

Mobbley did not respond to questions from the Star on Wednesday morning about why he publicly ditched his own party’s candidate Matt McCarthy and urged voters to vote instead for Glen Hodgson of the Greens.

Mobbley lost to McCarthy in June in a nomination vote. McCarthy did not respond to requests for comment from The Star on Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, Hodgson said he’s grateful for the support, but played no part in the decision.

“Green’s are not behind orchestrating backroom deals,” Hodgson said in an interview.

“This was not done by me. This was his (Mobbley’s) decision to do this.”

The local Huntsville Forrester reports that Mobbley announced his move in a statement that reads: “In my opinion, a mistake was made when the opportunity wasn’t taken up for a well known local to represent the NDP in this riding come election day. I will add, this opinion is not just mine,” reads the statement.

NDP vice-president in Muskoka-Parry Sound, James Moffat, told the Star on Wednesday afternoon that Mobbley had been removed as president in a unanimous decision by the party’s riding executive.

Moffat will assume the role of acting president until an election takes place, which will likely be after the federal election.

“Clyde should not have signed the letter as our riding president,” a statement by Moffat read. “The riding executive has taken swift action, unanimously voting to remove Clyde from his position.

“I want to make it clear that former president and failed candidate Clyde Mobbley in no way speaks on behalf of our riding executive or our members.”

Moffat issued a statement of his own to the Forrester, which said that Mobbley seemed motivated by disappointment in losing the vote.

“While Clyde seems unhappy with Matt’s nomination, he fails to mention that Matt won an open, democratic and contested nomination process over Clyde,” Moffat’s statement says.

“I think the letter says more about his disappointment in losing than it does about what Matt brings to the table,” it continues.

“In selecting Matt, we are putting forward an accomplished young professional who’ll be a strong voice for Parry Sound—Muskoka as part of Tom Mulcair’s NDP team,” the statement concludes.

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The tiff amused Tony Clement, the riding’s incumbent Conservative candidate, who tweeted: “Local Parry Sound—Muskoka NDP President urges voters to vote, er, NOT NDP.”

—with files from David Bateman