Little and his family immigrated to Canada in 1964, settling in Saint John, New Brunswick. Originally from Scotland, he had been teaching in South Yemen before arriving in Canada. He stepped down as leader in 1988.
He also ran for the New Democratic Party in Fundy Royal in the 1980 federal election without success.
Professionally, Little was head of the English department at his high school in the 1980s.
He was elected leader of the provincial NDP in 1980 and it was under his leadership that the party received more than 10% of the province-wide vote for the first time and also won seats in the provincial legislature for the first time, in the 1982 election when it gained two seats - though one of the MLAs ended up defecting to the Liberals. Little himself ran in Kings West in the New Brunswick Legislative Assembly in the 1978, 1982 and 1987 provincial elections but failed to win a seat.
