Anne McGrath was the Chief of Staff

Chief of Staff

The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...

 to Jack Layton

Jack Layton

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...

, the late leader of the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 (NDP) of Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. As Chief of Staff to Jack Layton (2008-2011), she is credited with professionalizing caucus operations and co-designing Layton’s historic breakthrough to Official Opposition status. She has since remained as Chief of Staff to New Democratic Party interim leader Nycole Turmel and the Federal NDP Caucus. She is also the past president of the party; she was elected on September 10, 2006 at the party's convention in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 and her term ended on August 16, 2009 when Peggy Nash

Peggy Nash

Peggy A. Nash is a Canadian labour official and politician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the Parkdale—High Park electoral district in Toronto, and was the Official Opposition's Finance Critic, in Canada's 41st parliament...

 was elected president at the party's convention in Halifax. She is a frequent commentator on national media broadcasts and has been identified as one of the 100 most influential people in government and politics in Ottawa. Previously, she was an activist in the labour, student and women's movements and has been employed by CUPE National & Oxfam Canada. In 1995, McGrath was the Alberta New Democratic Party

Alberta New Democratic Party

The Alberta New Democratic Party or Alberta NDP is a social-democratic political party in Alberta, Canada, which was originally founded as the Alberta section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...

's candidate in a provincial by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in Calgary-McCall and came in third place. In the 1984 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1984

The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

, while a student, she ran as candidate for the Communist Party of Canada

Communist Party of Canada

The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...

 in Edmonton-Strathcona, placing seventh.

Electoral record