Federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is stepping down as party leader.
Speaking to reporters in Ottawa Monday, May said that she is leaving the post she has held since 2006, effective today.
May said she will continue to sit as a member of Parliament and will be the party's parliamentary caucus leader.
May said she promised her daughter that the 2019 election would be her last at the party's helm.
The B.C. MP said she felt comfortable stepping aside from the role now because the party is in a good position after a solid performance in the recent election campaign.
"We achieved more than one million votes for the first time ever," May said. "As I look around the world ... there is no other country with first-past-the-post that has achieved what we've achieved."
After years of May as the lone Green MP in the House of Commons, the Green Party caucus grew to three members in last month's election.
While the party achieved the best electoral result in its history last month, some observers had predicted the Greens would pick up even more seats given how many voters were saying climate change was a major issue for them.
When asked if she should have stepped aside sooner, May said she remains a "popular leader" and the party faced head winds in the last election because of some unspecified "dirty tricks." May has accused the NDP of spreading misinformation in fliers handed out across Vancouver Island.
Former journalist Jo-Ann Roberts will serve as the party's interim leader. May said the party will hold a leadership vote in October 2020 at a convention in Charlottetown, P.E.I.