This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Nova Scotias unicameral legislative body, the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The number of seats has varied over time, from a low of thirty during the 1930s and early 1940s, to the current high of fifty-two. This article only covers elections since Nova Scotia became part of the newly formed Canadian Confederation in 1867. Prior to that, Nova Scotia was a British colony. The Nova Scotia House of Assembly dates back to 1758, and Nova Scotia became the first British colony to be granted responsible government from London in 1848.
The chart on the upper right provides a graphical summary of the results, with the most recent elections towards the right. It shows how the Liberal party (red) dominated the province's early political history, winning nineteen of the first twenty-two elections from 1867 to 1953; and that since 1953, the Conservatives (blue) have been the most successful party, winning eleven of the fifteen elections since then. The New Democratic Party (orange), after winning Official Opposition status in four consecutive elections, finally achieved government for the first time in the 2009 election.
Results The table below shows the total number of seats won by the major political parties at each election. It also shows the percentage of the vote obtained by the major political parties at each election, if greater than 0.1%. The winning party's totals are shown in bold. To date, no party has formed a government that did not have the largest share of the vote. Full details on any election are linked via the number of the election at the start of the row.
Election Totalseats PC Liberal NDP Other Seats Vote (%) Seats Vote (%) Seats Vote (%) Seats Seat-winning party Vote (%) 1st September 18, 1867 38 2 38.5 36 58.6 2.9 2nd May 16, 1871 38 14 43.7 24 52.2 4.0 3rd December 17, 1874 38 12 43.6 22 55.0 4 Independents 1.44thSeptember 17, 1878 38 32 51.7 6 45.1 3.15thJune 20, 1882 38 14 46.9 24 51.8 1.36thJune 1886 37 10 43.6 28 54.7 1.67thMay 1890 38 9 46.7 29 52.2 1.08thMarch 1894 37 13 47.3 25 51.9 0.89thApril 13, 1897 38 3 44.4 34 55.0 1 Independent 0.510thOctober 2, 1901 38 2 41.7 36 56.7 1.511thJune 20, 1906 38 4 42.1 32 53.2 2 Independents 4.612thJune 14, 1911 38 12 45.4 26 51.1 3.513thJune 20, 1916 43 12 48.8 31 50.4 0.814thJuly 27, 1920 43 3 24.7 29 44.4 5 16.9 6 United Farmers 14.015thJune 25, 1925 43 40 60.9 3 36.3 – 2.816thOctober 1, 1928 43 24 51.7 18 47.2 1 1.117thAugust 22, 1933 30 8 45.9 22 52.6 – 1.518thJune 20, 1937 30 5 46.0 25 52.9 – 1.119thOctober 28, 1941 30 5 40.3 22 52.7 3 7.020thOctober 23, 1945 30 0 33.5 28 52.7 2 13.6 0.121stJune 9, 1949 37 8 39.2 27 51.0 2 9.6 0.122ndMay 26, 1953 37 13 43.6 22 49.0 2 6.9 0.523rdOctober 30, 1956 43 24 48.6 18 48.2 1 3.0 0.124thJune 7, 1960 43 27 48.3 15 42.6 1 8.9 0.225thOctober 8, 1963 43 39 56.2 4 39.7 – 4.1 26thMay 30, 1967 46 40 52.8 6 41.8 – 5.2 0.227thOctober 13, 1970 46 21 46.9 23 46.1 2 6.7 0.228thApril 2, 1974 46 12 38.6 31 47.9 3 13.0 0.529thSeptember 19, 1978 52 31 45.8 17 39.4 4 14.4 0.430thOctober 6, 1981 52 37 47.5 13 33.2 1 18.1 1 Cape Breton Labour 1.231stNovember 6, 1984 52 42 50.6 6 31.3 3 15.9 1 Cape Breton Labour 2.232ndSeptember 6, 1988 52 28 43.4 21 39.6 2 15.8 1 Cape Breton Labour 1.133rdMay 25, 1993 52 9 31.1 40 49.7 3 17.7 0.934thMarch 24, 1998 52 14 29.8 19 35.3 19 34.6 2.435thJuly 27, 1999 52 30 39.2 11 29.8 11 30.0 1.136thAugust 5, 2003 52 25 36.3 12 31.5 15 31.0 1.237thJune 13, 2006 52 23 39.6 9 23.4 20 34.6 2.4 38th June 9, 2009 52 10 24.5 11 27.2 31 45.3 3.0 39th October 8, 2013 51 11 26.3 33 45.7 7 26.8 1.2 40th May 30, 2017 51 17 35.78 27 39.51 721.41 3.341stAugust 18, 2021 55 31 38.44 17 36.67 6 20.93 1 Independent 1.1742ndNovember 26, 2024554352.49222.69922.171Independent1.18
Notes Includes results for Progressive Conservatives. Includes results for Co-operative Commonwealth Federation prior to 1963; and also results for the Labour party prior to 1937. Includes Pro Confederation. Includes Anti-Confederates. Includes 2.0% for Cape Breton Labour Party.
See also Timeline of Canadian elections List of political parties in Nova Scotia
References