Nova Scotia general election, 2003
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The 2003 Nova Scotia election was held on August 5, 2003 to elect members of the House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The ruling Progressive Conservative Party, led by Premier John Hamm, was reduced to a minority government.
The election was called by Conservatives, who decided to hold a rare summer election in the hope of strengthening their hold on the legislature. Running against them were the New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Darrell Dexter, and the Liberal Party, led by Danny Graham.
Hamm's party ran on a policy of fiscal management, tax cuts, and on their record of fufilling most of their promises. While the NDP agreed in principle to tax cuts, their main cause was the creation of a public auto insurance company. The Liberals were the only party to criticize the tax cuts.
For the most part, the campaign was quiet and uneventful. Hamm received criticism for a great number of spending programs, including a $150 tax rebate cheque sent to Nova Scotians right before the election. The party was also criticized for holding an election in the summer when most people have other concerns. Darrell Dexter's friendly, non-confrontational style, was popular with many voters, and was a marked change from his party's usually strident socialism. Danny Graham, a young leader, was popular, but failed to make much of a mark.
The election was considered a mild failure for the Liberals and Conservatives, and something of a success for the NDP.
| Party | Leader | Previous | Seats won | % change | Popular vote (%)
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Progressive Conservatives/row | Progressive Conservative | John Hamm | 31 | 25 | -19.4% | 36.32% | New Democratic | Darrell Dexter | 11 | 15 | +36.3% | 31.00% | Liberal | Danny Graham | 7 | 12 | +71.4% | 31.47% | Other | 1 | - | 1.21% | |||
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| Total Seats | 52 | 52 | - | 100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(There was one independent and two vacancies at dissolution)