Cardy announced plans to resign at the next party convention, but this was suspended to enable him to run in an unexpected byelection in Saint John East in November 2014, though without success. The party executive subsequently encouraged him to continue as leader. Criticism of Cardy's policies and leadership style increased, with concerns expressed by veteran leaders such as federal NDP MP Yvon Godin and Daniel Légère, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, New Brunswick. Complaining of party infighting, Cardy resigned both as leader and as a party member on January 1, 2017. Later that month, he announced that he was joining the Progressive Conservatives under party leader Blaine Higgs as a member of his staff.