the letter and felt betrayed by her caucus. Michael said she planned to sit down with her caucus before making a decision on what to do. The letter led to a public fight within the NDP, particularly among the caucus. Both Gerry Rogers and George Murphy said they regretted sending the letter and supported Michael, while Dale Kirby and Chris Mitchelmore stood behind what they had written in the letter. Following the caucus meeting Michael agreed to having a vote on her leadership at the next annual general meeting of the party. Both Kirby and Mitchelmore later announced they were leaving the caucus to sit as Independent MHAs, and both men joined the Liberal Party in February 2014. The dispute over Michael's leadership also led to members of the provincial executive to resign. In May 2014 a party convention reaffirmed her leadership with the support of 75% of delegates. Michael announced on January 6, 2015, that she is stepping down as party leader after the party performed poorly in four by-elections, but will not be stepping down as an MHA. She was succeeded by Earle McCurdy following a leadership election on March 7, 2015. Michael successfully contested the 2015 provincial election in the district of St. John's East-Quidi Vidi. She subsequently served as NDP House Leader in the following parliamentary sessions as Earle McCurdy did not win his seat. Following the resignation of her successor as NDP leader, Earle McCurdy, Michael was appointed interim leader of the NDP in 2017. She served as interim leader until the election of MHA Gerry Rogers as leader in April 2018. She declined to run for re-election in the 2019 election in order to give party leader Alison Coffin a chance to win a seat. Electoral history |NDP |Lorraine Michael |align="right"|3,239 |align="right"|65.28% |align="right"| |- |- |Liberal |Drew Brown |align="right"|173 |align="right"|3.49% |align="right"| |} |- |New Democrat |Lorraine Michael |align="right"|3062 |align="right"|56.8 |align="right"|+1.6 |Progressive Conservative |Maria Afonso |align="right"|2135 |align="right"|39.6 |align="right"|-5.2 |- |Liberal |Maura Beam |align="right"|196 |align="right"|3.6 |align="right"|+3.6 |} } |- |New Democrat |Lorraine Michael |align="right"|1968 |align="right"|55.2 |align="right"| +6.7 |Progressive Conservative |Jerome Kennedy |align="right"|1595 |align="right"|44.8 |align="right"| +1.0 |} References External links NDP Caucus - NDP Caucus page 1943 births Leaders of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP/CCF Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MHAs Activists from Newfoundland and Labrador Living people 20th-century American Roman Catholic nuns Canadian feminists Women MHAs in Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador political party