Nova Scotia New Democratic Party
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Template:Infobox Canada Political Party
The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social democratic party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is aligned with the federal New Democratic Party. Originally founded as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in 1932, it became the NDP in 1961.
Since shortly after confederation, Nova Scotia has had a two-party system. Power alternated between the Liberals and Conservatives.
Though the CCF/NDP has a long history in Nova Scotia, it was unable to break the two-party system and win more than a handful of seats (if any) in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly until the 1990s. In 1945, however, the two CCF members elected from Cape Breton became the unoffical opposition party when Premier Angus L. Macdonald's Liberal Party swept 28 of the 30 seats.
When the CCF became the NDP in 1961, it was unsuccessful in winning seats in the legislature until 1967. The election of party leader Jeremy Akerman returned the party to the legislature. Its representation grew slowly in throughout the 1970s, but never rose above four seats.
In 1980, Alexa McDonough became leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, the first female leader of a major party in Canada. While she was sometimes the only NDP member of the legislature, and had, at most, a caucus of four Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs), she raised the party's profile. McDonough laid the basis for its breakthrough in the 1990s under Robert Chisholm, who became provincial NDP leader in 1996.
Under Chisolm's leadership, in 1998 the party won 19 seats in the House of Assembly, the same number as the Liberals. The Liberals formed a minority government with the support of the Progressive Conservatives (Tories). The prospect of an NDP government seemed imminent.
However, the party was unable to improve on its standings in the 1999 election. But with 11 seats in the legislature with 29.9% of the vote, it edged out the Liberals and were able to hold "Official Opposition" status when the Tories formed a majority government under John Hamm.
The 2003 election resulted in a Tory minority government. The NDP maintained Official Opposition status under new leader Darrell Dexter. The NDP won 15 seats and 31% of the vote.
The political scene in Nova Scotia remains tightly divided among the three parties, with any poised to form government.
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Party leaders
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation
New Democratic Party
- James H. Aitchison (1963 - November 1968)
- Jeremy Akerman (November 1968 - May 1980)
- James 'Buddy' MacEachern (1980)
- Alexa McDonough (1980 - 1994)
- John Holm (1994 - 1996)
- Robert Chisholm (1996 - 2000)
- Helen MacDonald (2000 - 2001)
- Darrell Dexter (2001 - present)
Provincial secretaries
- Lloyd Shaw (-1949)
- Dr. Rutherford (1949 - 1950)
- Florence E. Welton (1950 - 1961)
- Ross Fisher 1992 - 1997
- Ron Cavalucci 1997
- Bruce Cox 1997 - ????
- Matthew Hebb (2001 - June 2005)
Election results 1933–1998
| Election | # of candidates nominated | # of seats won | # of total votes | % of popular vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | 3 | 0 | 2,336 | 0.7% |
| 1937 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% |
| 1941 | 6 | 3 | 18,583 | 7.0% |
| 1945 | 20 | 2 | 39,637 | 13.6% |
| 1949 | 21 | 2 | 32,869 | 9.6% |
| 1953 | 16 | 2 | 23,700 | 6.8% |
| 1956 | 11 | 1 | 9,932 | 3.0% |
| 1960 | 34 | 1 | 31,036 | 8.9% |
| 1963 | 20 | 0 | 14,076 | 4.1% |
| 1967 | 24 | 0 | 17,873 | 5.2% |
| 1970 | 23 | 2 | 25,259 | 6.6% |
| 1974 | 46 | 3 | 55,902 | 13.0% |
| 1978 | 52 | 4 | 63,979 | 14.4% |
| 1981 | 52 | 1 | 76,289 | 18.1% |
| 1984 | 52 | 3 | 65,876 | 15.9% |
| 1988 | 52 | 2 | 74,038 | 15.7% |
| 1993 | 52 | 3 | 86,743 | 17.7% |
| 1998 | 52 | 19 | 155,361 | 34.4% |
| 1999 | 52 | 11 | 129,474 | 29.7% |
| 1998 | 52 | 15 | 126,479 | 30.9% |
- Election results between 1933-1963 represent the party during its time as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. 1963-present the party is called the New Democratic Party.
- Information taken from Politics of Nova Scotia: Vol. Two 1896-1988 by J. Murray Beck. Four Post Publications: Tantallon, Nova Scotia, 1988.
- Information after 1984 is from Elections Nova Scotia (http://www.gov.ns.ca/elo/elections/|)
See also
External links
- Nova Scotia NDP (http://www.ns.ndp.ca/)
- Nova Scotia NDP Caucus (http://www.ndpcaucus.ns.ca/)
- Nova Scotia Young New Democrats (http://www.nsynd.ca/)