Derek Wells

Derek M. Wells KC (born 28 November 1946) is a former Canadian politician who served as the Liberal member of Parliament for the riding of South Shore from 1993 to 1997.

Derek M. Wells KC
Member of Parliament for South Shore
In office 1993–1997
Preceded by	Peter McCreath
Succeeded by	Gerald Keddy
Personal details
Born	(1946-11-28) 28 November 1946 (age 78) Corner Brook, Newfoundland
Political party	Liberal 1993-2021
Other political affiliations	No Affiliation 2021 – present
Profession	Businessman, lawyer

Early life and education

Born in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Wells graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1972.^[1]

Political career

Wells won the South Shore electoral district for the Liberal party in the 1993 federal election.^[2] After serving in the 35th Canadian Parliament, Wells was defeated in the 1997 federal election.^[3] He unsuccessfully attempted to return to Parliament in the 2000 federal election.^[4]

Wells also served as President of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.^[5] He is a partner at Hennigar, Wells, Lamey and Baker in Chester.^{[citation needed]}

Wells announced in September 2009 that he would seek the Liberal Party nomination for South Shore—St. Margaret's in the 2011 federal election.^[6] He won the nomination on 4 October.^[7] He finished third receiving 17% of the vote.^[8]

Wells is the current District 3 municipal councillor in Chester Municipality. He was elected in 2021 during a by-election after the seat was vacated by current Progressive Conservative MLA Danielle Barkhouse.^[9]

Electoral record

2021 Chester Municipal By-Election

2021 Chester Municipal By-Election District 3

Party	Candidate	Votes	Percent
No Affiliation	Derek Wells	461	63.67%	✓
No Affiliation	Jo-Ann Grant	164	22.65%
No Affiliation	Annette Collicut	99	13.67%

Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.

2011 federal election

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gerald Keddy	17,948	43.14	+7.15	$65,637.06
	New Democratic	Gordon Earle	15,033	36.14	+2.79	$79,480.73
	Liberal	Derek Wells	7,037	16.92	-6.93	$57,461.22
	Green	Kris MacLellan	1,579	3.80	-1.43	$41.21
Total valid votes/Expense limit			41,597	100.0		$86,455.81
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			282	0.67	+0.20
Turnout			41,879	62.23	+2.03
Eligible voters			67,296
	Conservative hold		Swing		+2.18
Sources:[10][11]

1997 federal election

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Gerald Keddy	14,136	36.00	+3.38
	Liberal	Derek Wells	11,397	29.02	-17.92
	New Democratic	Blandford Nickerson	8,137	20.72	+15.72
	Reform	Anne Matthiasson	5,302	13.50	-0.02
	Natural Law	Terry Harnish	298	0.76	-0.02
Total valid votes			39,270	100.00

1993 federal election

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Derek Wells	17,351	46.94	+4.37
	Progressive Conservative	Peter McCreath	12,058	32.62	-13.84
	Reform	Anne Matthiasson	4,999	13.52
	New Democratic	Eric Hustvedt	1,847	5.00	-5.15
	National	A. James Donahue	422	1.14
	Natural Law	Richard Robertson	287	0.78
Total valid votes			36,964	100.00