Bedford (provincial electoral district)

Bedford was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Its current Member of the Legislative Assembly is Kelly Regan.

Bedford

Nova Scotia electoral district
Defunct provincial electoral district
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
District created	1978
District abolished	2021
Last contested	2017
Demographics
Population (2011)	27,783
Electors	19,154
Area (km²)	32.00
Census division(s)	Halifax Regional Municipality

The electoral district was created in 1978 as Bedford-Musquodoboit Valley from the redistribution of Halifax Cobequid. The name was changed to Bedford-Fall River in 1993 and the district lost the Musquodoboit Valley area to Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley.^[1]

In 2003, the district was renamed Bedford. It lost the Fall River and Waverley areas and gained one third of Halifax Bedford Basin, as well as an area along the Hammonds Plains Road. It comprises most of Bedford and all of the community southeast of the Bicentennial Highway.^[2]

The district is notable for the electoral loss of Liberal leader Francis MacKenzie, in the 2006 election. MacKenzie attempted to win the seat in 2006 for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. The party polled less than 24% across the province. He lost by more than 800 votes to Len Goucher.

On September 30, 2008 the name of the Bedford district was officially changed to Bedford-Birch Cove. With the 2012 electoral boundary changes, the area of Kearney Lake and Birch Cove moved to Clayton Park West and name of the district officially changed back to Bedford.^[3]

In the 2021 Nova Scotia general election, the riding was abolished into Bedford South and Bedford Basin.

Members of the Legislative Assembly

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly:

Legislature	Years	Member		Party
63rd	2017–2021		Kelly Regan	Liberal
62nd	2013–2017
61st	2009–2013
60th	2006–2009		Len Goucher	Progressive Conservative
59th	2003–2006		Peter Christie
58th	1999-2003
57th	1998-1999		Francene Cosman	Liberal
56th	1993-1998
55th	1988-1993		Ken Streatch	Progressive Conservative
54th	1984-1988
53rd	1981-1984
52nd	1978-1981

Election results

1978

1978 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ken Streatch	4,951	58.93%	–
	Liberal	Norman J. MacLean	2,743	32.65%	–
	New Democratic	Gerald B. Hoganson	708	8.43%	–
Total			8,402	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1978). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Twenty-Ninth General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1981

1981 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ken Streatch	4,929	57.62%	-1.30%
	Liberal	Dwight Isenor	2,246	26.26%	-6.39%
	New Democratic	Bruce Carroll	1,379	16.12%	7.69%
Total			8,554	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1981). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirteith General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1984

1984 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ken Streatch	4,953	59.98%	2.36%
	Liberal	John M. Dillon	1,755	21.25%	-5.00%
	New Democratic	Susan Coldwell	1,468	17.78%	1.66%
	Labour	Alfred Nieforth	82	0.99%	–
Total			8,258	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1984). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-First General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1988

1988 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ken Streatch	5,740	51.49%	-8.48%
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	3,803	34.12%	12.86%
	New Democratic	Susan Coldwell	1,604	14.39%	-3.39%
Total			11,147	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1988). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Second General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1993

1993 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francene Cosman	4,794	44.19%	10.08%
	Progressive Conservative	Peter J. Kelly	4,401	40.57%	-10.92%
	New Democratic	Ryan Kidney	1,653	15.24%	0.85%
Total			10,848	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1993). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Third General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1998

1998 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Francene Cosman	4,205	37.58%	-6.61%
	Progressive Conservative	Peter G. Christie	3,892	34.79%	-5.78%
	New Democratic	Marvin Silver	3,091	27.63%	12.39%
Total			11,188	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1999

1999 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Peter G. Christie	6,566	57.28%	22.49%
	New Democratic	Jane Earle	2,700	23.55%	-4.07%
	Liberal	Gerry St. Armand	2,197	19.17%	-18.42%
Total			11,463	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2003

2003 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Peter G. Christie	4,114	43.87%	-13.41%
	Liberal	Richard Zurawski	3,208	34.21%	15.05%
	New Democratic	Bob Watson	2,055	21.92%	-1.64%
Total			9,377	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2006

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Len Goucher	4,090	42.22%	-1.65%
	Liberal	Francis MacKenzie	3,286	33.92%	-0.29%
	New Democratic	John Buckland	2,019	20.84%	-1.07%
	Green	Mary McLaughlan	292	3.01%	–
Total			9,687	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2009

2009 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Kelly Regan	4,861	44.48%	10.56%
	New Democratic	Brian Mosher	3,552	32.50%	11.66%
	Progressive Conservative	Len Goucher	2,268	20.75%	-21.47%
	Green	Neil Green	248	2.27%	-0.75%
Total			10,929	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2013

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Kelly Regan	6,081	60.66	+16.18
	Progressive Conservative	Joan Christie	2,026	20.21	-0.54
	New Democratic Party	Mike Poworozynk	1,701	16.97	-15.53
	Green	Ian Charles	217	2.16	-0.11

2017

v t e 2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Kelly Regan	5,831	52.69	-7.97
	Progressive Conservative	Valerie White	3,388	30.62	+10.41
	New Democratic	Blake Wright	1,362	12.31	-4.66
	Green	Michealle Hanshaw	485	4.38	+2.22
Total valid votes			11,066	100
Total rejected ballots			44	0.40
Turnout			11,110	51.85
Eligible voters			21,429
	Liberal hold		Swing		-9.19
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[4][5]

External links

• 2006 riding profile
• 2003 riding profile
• Kelly Regan