the first election that the ndp took part in while horgan was the leader was the 2017 general election. the ndp won 41 seats in the election. the other parties that won seats were the liberal party (43 seats) and the green party (3 seats). the liberal party did not win enough seats to form a majority government so the first minority government in bc in 65 years was elected. this was a very close election. the liberals won the popular vote by only 1566 votes. because both parties did not have enough seats to form a majority government, the greens held the balance of power. both the liberals and ndp began negotiating with the greens to see if they would support a minority government by either of the parties. on 29 may, horgan and the greens announced that the greens would support the ndps in a confidence and supply deal. the liberals lost a vote of no confidence vote by two votes to the greens and ndp. because of this, the lieutenant governor judith guichon asked horgan to form government and become the next premier. horgan became the first ndp premier in 16 years.