OTTAWA Annamie Paul is the new Green Party Leader.

The announcement was made Saturday evening in Ottawa after 23,877 party members out of an eligible 34,680 cast their ballots in a preferential voting system.

Paul, 47, is a lawyer, activist and international affairs expert. She becomes the first elected Black leader and first female Jewish leader of a major federal party.

She won on the eight round of balloting, in a tight race with candidate Dimitri Lascaris.

Yellowknife physician Courtney Howard came in third, followed by former Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Glen Murray and former public servant and Vancouver Island Liberal-turned-Green candidate David Merner. The other candidates, Anita Kuttner, Meryam Haddad and Andrew West, were eliminated on the first few rounds of balloting.