What now?

Alice Funke looks at Jack Layton’s electoral legacy, while Postmedia and the Star consider the political ramifications.

Still, Bricker said Layton’s long-term legacy appears to be the fact that he built a coalition of supporters — from Toronto urbanites to rural Quebecers — who now vote NDP. And that, said Bricker, has sown the seeds for an outcome that appears inevitable — a two-party system.

 "When you take a look at the people who did cross over and actually decide to vote NDP, they have a lot in common. Both in terms of the way they think — their world view — and what they look like demographically. He’s actually consolidated a fairly cohesive, coherent political coalition on the left."