Robert Chisholm

Robert Lawrence Chisholm (born August 31, 1957) is a Canadian former politician who was the leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1996 to 2000, serving as leader of the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia from 1998 to 1999. He represented the Halifax Atlantic riding in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1991 to 2003 and was the member of Parliament (MP) for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour from 2011 to 2015.

After the 2003 Nova Scotia election, Chisholm worked as researcher for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). He has been a member of Dalhousie University's board of governors since 2004. In 2007, he became CUPE's Regional Director for the Atlantic Region. This new-found electoral success boded well for the NDP's provincial party, which was able to take advantage of the new wave of popularity.

Chisholm subsequently lead the NDP to a record 19 seats (out of the House of Assembly's 52 seats) in the 1998 provincial election, putting them in a tie with the governing Liberal Party. The Liberals were able to continue ruling, as they received support from the third-place Progressive Conservatives, who held 14 seats. The NDP formed the Official Opposition, marking the first time they attained that position; the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), were the last democratic socialist party to hold that title, back in 1949.

1999 Nova Scotia election 15 months later, the Liberal government was defeated by a motion of non-confidence from the Conservatives, forcing an election in the summer of 1999. During the campaign, it was revealed that Chisholm had a past criminal record for driving under the influence of alcohol when he was 19 years old. The NDP lost eight seats during the campaign, which saw the third-place Conservatives elected to a majority government.

During this period, the NDP shared official opposition status with the Liberals (as both held 11 seats). The NDP became sole official opposition upon Russell MacLellan's resignation, and the subsequent election of Progressive Conservative Cecil Clark, which gave the NDP 11 seats to the Liberals' 10. Chisholm unexpectedly resigned the leadership after the campaign, at the November 6, 1999 NSNDP provincial council meeting. He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and could not subject them to ten more years of political life. He remained sitting as an MLA in the Legislature and remained as leader until a new one was elected. and was officially nominated on January 25. On May 2, 2011, he was elected, winning 15,661 votes and defeating Liberal Party incumbent Mike Savage.

Following the death of federal NDP leader Jack Layton, Chisholm was a candidate in the 2012 New Democratic Party leadership election, but after speaking English during a leadership debate in French on account of his lack of fluency in the latter language, he withdrew in December 2011 and subsequently endorsed Thomas Mulcair.

In the 2015 federal election, Chisholm was defeated by Liberal Darren Fisher.

Chisholm endorsed Alberta MP Heather McPherson in the 2026 New Democratic Party leadership election.

Electoral history