Ed Broadbent

John Edward (Ed) Broadbent (born March 21, 1936) is a Canadian politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1974 to 1989. Under his leadership, the party reached its highest number of seats (43) in the 1988 federal election. When Broadbent stepped down after 15 years as federal leader of the NDP in 1989, he was succeeded by Audrey McLaughlin. In the decade following Broadbent's retirement from politics, the federal NDP flagged. With the encouragement of the new federal NDP leader, Jack Layton, Broadbent has returned from retirement to run in a 2004 by-election in the riding of Ottawa-Centre, where he lives. This return is much celebrated within the party as it seeks to increase the number of winning seats in the 2004 election.

Broadbent was director of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development from 1989 to 1996.

He has a Ph.D in political science from the University of Toronto (1965).