Their only possible consolation prize was handed to them by Brian Topp, Mulcair’s bitter rival. Topp refused to concede defeat even when it was all but assured after the third round.Instead, with little hope of winning, Topp spitefully stayed on the ballot to give party members an opportunity to cast an anybody-but-Mulcair protest vote against its next leader.
I know Topp's campaign (and Broadbent's sabre-rattling) rubbed some people the wrong way; but to label his "refusal to concede defeat" as "spiteful" seems hyperbolic. As I see it, the third-ballot result justified a final ballot, even if the endorsements weren't defaulting Topp's way--if nobody crested 45% on the penultimate ballot, and nobody crested 60% on the final ballot, thus is the justification...