Graydon Pelley, the leader of the NL Alliance since its inception as a political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, has announced his departure from the party.
According to a press release, party president Rudy Norman has resigned alongside Pelley.
“I feel at the moment that after spending so much time with the Alliance and going through the processes of the elections and various things in my own life, I felt like it was time to step aside and to make room,” Pelley said Tuesday.
The party was formed in 2018 to “offer Newfoundlands and Labradors a better solution than the same old partisan politics we’ve had for decades,” the press release said.
Pelley, a recently retired schoolteacher, ran for a seat in the Mount Scio district and lost to the now Liberal MHA Sarah Stodley. He was due to face Premier Andrew Furey in the Humber-Gros Morne district in 2021 before a health crisis cut short his campaign.
The party received 0.3 percent of the vote in the 2021 election with five candidates and 2.4 percent of the vote in the 2019 election with nine candidates.
Pelley said he was proud of his party’s message calling for a government that can tackle growing debt, cut spending and invest in small businesses. However, he said, effecting change against established parties is often a challenge.
“Some of the ideas that we put out there, we have already heard that the mainstream parties are using some of them and are trying to move forward. But because of the way the party system is structured and works, it seems difficult to get a foothold on some of these issues,” he said.
“I believe we have the message that the people of Newfoundland and Labrador want to hear. It’s a message of change, but things didn’t go the way we wanted. But I don’t regret it at all.”
The party will remain registered with Elections Newfoundland and Labrador, Pelley said, but no one has yet stepped forward to become its next leader.
“If that happens, which I hope happens, I believe the people of Newfoundland and Labrador will have a really viable option in future elections,” he said.
Pelley said he will continue to attend meetings on the party’s future but looks forward to spending more time with his wife and family.
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