Ottawa, ON – The next leader of the federal NDP won’t be from northwest, B.C.

This after Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen announced this morning he is taking a pass.

“It wasn’t good timing at all for my family, young kids and the riding I represent in Skeena and being on the road that much was a double hit,” Cullen said during a teleconference this morning, adding the decision doesn’t close the door on potential leadership runs down the road.

“No, Jack Layton taught me very well, he said ‘Nathan you don’t know what the future holds.’ So this is a not now but not never decision for me.”

He had been considering a run ever since Tom Mulcair lost a leadership confidence vote in April.

The nomination deadline for other candidates to come forward closes July 2. The party will select their next leader sometime between September 17, 2017 and October 31, 2017.