Halifax Needham

Halifax Needham is a provincial electoral district in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It has existed since 1967, though its boundaries have changed periodically.

Halifax Needham

Nova Scotia electoral district
Location of Halifax Needham in the Metro Halifax area
Coordinates:	44.6632°N 63.600°W / 44.6632; -63.600
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
MLA	Suzy Hansen New Democratic
District created	1967
First contested	1967
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2016[1])	19,426
Electors	15,372[2]
Area (km²)	6.00
Pop. density (per km²)	3,237.7
Census division(s)	Halifax Regional Municipality

Halifax Needham encompasses what is largely known as the North End of Halifax. It has been held by members of each of the three major political parties in Nova Scotia at different times. The riding was once the home of Liberal Premier Gerald Regan before going to Progressive Conservative Edmund L. Morris for the majority of the 1980s. Morris served as a Member of Parliament for Halifax under Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker before becoming the Mayor of Halifax. He served in the Provincial Cabinet as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Municipal Affairs, Fisheries, and Social Services.

When he stepped down in 1988, the Progressive Conservatives lost the seat in that election to Gerry O'Malley, who was unseated from his position as Liberal Minister of Supply and Services in 1998. Maureen MacDonald held the seat from 1998 until 2016. The seat is considered a reasonably safe seat for the NDP, though the 2013 election was close, amid a province-wide swing to the Liberals.

It was created in 1966 when Halifax North was divided into three districts, one of which was Halifax City North East. The district was renamed Halifax Needham in 1967. In 2003, it gained an area east of Citadel Hill from Halifax Citadel. In 2013, it lost the area south of Robie Street and east of Young Street to Halifax Chebucto and gained the area north of Bayers Road and east of Connaught Avenue from Halifax Chebucto.^[3]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

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

Legislature	Years	Member		Party
Halifax North Riding created from Halifax
40th	1933–1937		Gordon Isnor	Liberal
41st	1937–1941		Harold Connolly
42nd	1941–1945
43rd	1945–1949
44th	1949–1953
45th	1953–1956
46th	1956–1960		John E. Ahern
47th	1960–1963
48th	1963–1967		James H. Vaughan	Progressive Conservative
Halifax Needham
49th	1967–1970		Gerald Regan	Liberal
50th	1970–1974
51st	1974–1978
52nd	1978–1980
	1980–1981		Edmund L. Morris	Progressive Conservative
53rd	1981–1984
54th	1984–1988
55th	1988–1993		Gerry O'Malley	Liberal
56th	1993–1998
57th	1998–1999		Maureen MacDonald	New Democratic
58th	1999–2003
59th	2003–2005
60th	2006–2009
61st	2009–2013
62nd	2013–2016
	2016–2017		Lisa Roberts
63rd	2017–2021
64th	2021–2024		Suzy Hansen
65th	2024–present

Geography

The land-area of Halifax Needham is 6 km² (2.3 sq mi).

Election results

1967

1967 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	3,354	48.18%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Cecil Moore	3,252	46.72%	–
	New Democratic	Buddy Daye	355	5.10%	–
Total			6,961	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1967). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1970

1970 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	4,514	57.92%	9.74%
	Progressive Conservative	David MacKeen	2,887	37.05%	-9.67%
	New Democratic	Alasdair Sinclair	392	5.03%	-0.07%
Total			7,793	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia Legislature (1970). Legislature of Nova Scotia Election Returns (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1974

1974 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	4,364	61.49%	3.57%
	Progressive Conservative	James H. Vaughan	1,854	26.12%	-10.92%
	New Democratic	Marty Dolin	879	12.39%	7.36%
Total			7,097	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1974). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Twenty-Eighth General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer.

1978

1978 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gerald Regan	3,553	43.38%	-18.11%
	Progressive Conservative	Pat Curran	3,416	41.70%	15.58%
	New Democratic	James "Dusty" Miller	1,222	14.92%	2.53%
Total			8,191	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (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	Edmund L. Morris	3,300	38.05%	-3.66%
	Liberal	Dan Clarke	2,801	32.30%	-11.08%
	New Democratic	Phil Davis	2,572	29.66%	14.74%
Total			8,673	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (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	Edmund L. Morris	3,173	39.97%	1.92%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	2,514	31.67%	2.01%
	Liberal	Walter Fitzgerald	2,208	27.81%	-4.48%
	Labour	Beatrice Kaizer	44	0.55%	–
Total			7,939	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (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	%	±%
	Liberal	Gerry O'Malley	3,469	41.91%	14.09%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	2,693	32.53%	0.87%
	Progressive Conservative	Randy Dewell	2,116	25.56%	-14.41%
Total			8,278	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (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	Gerry O'Malley	4,527	45.18%	3.28%
	New Democratic	Innis MacDonald	3,555	35.48%	2.95%
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Walter Milsom	1,852	18.48%	-7.08%
	Natural Law	Ian Temple	85	0.85%	–
Total			10,019	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (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	%	±%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	4,837	58.51%	23.03%
	Liberal	Gerry O'Malley	2,506	30.31%	-14.87%
	Progressive Conservative	Artho Kartsaklis	924	11.18%	-7.31%
Total			8,267	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1999

1999 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	3,525	44.95%	-13.56%
	Progressive Conservative	Linda Carvery	2,185	27.86%	16.69%
	Liberal	Mike Rogers	1,970	25.12%	-5.19%
	Nova Scotia Party	Scott Higgins	162	2.07%	–
Total			7,842	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2003

2003 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	3,709	50.26%	5.31%
	Liberal	Mike Rogers	2,178	29.51%	4.39%
	Progressive Conservative	Linda Carvery	1,377	18.66%	-9.20%
	Nova Scotia Party	Blair Baxter	116	1.57%	-0.49%
Total valid votes			7,380	100.00
Total rejected ballots			59	0.79
Turnout			7,439	55.17
Electors on the lists			13,484	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2006

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	4,438	60.62%	10.36%
	Progressive Conservative	Andrew Black	1,330	18.17%	-0.49%
	Liberal	Errol Gaum	1,220	16.66%	-12.85%
	Green	Amanda Myers	333	4.55%	–
Total valid votes			7,321	100.00
Total rejected ballots			32	0.44
Turnout			7,353	49.85
Electors on the lists			14,750	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+5.43
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2009

2009 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Maureen MacDonald	5,336	67.30%	6.68%
	Liberal	Graham Estabrooks	1,690	21.31%	4.65%
	Progressive Conservative	John J. Cameron	536	6.76%	-11.41%
	Green	Kris MacLellan	367	4.63%	0.08%
Total valid votes			7,929	100.00
Total rejected ballots			31	0.39
Turnout			7,960	49.01
Electors on the lists			16,241	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+1.01
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Halifax Needham" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2013

2009 Nova Scotia general election redistributed results
Party		Vote	%
	New Democratic	5,013	67.24
	Liberal	1,632	21.89
	Progressive Conservative	491	6.59
	Green	319	4.28

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic Party	Maureen MacDonald	3,392	43.99	-23.25
	Liberal	Chris Poole	3,115	40.40	+18.51
	Progressive Conservative	Mary D.S. Hamblin	834	10.82	+4.23
	Green	Kris MacLellan	369	4.79	+0.51
Total valid votes			7,710	100.00
Total rejected ballots			72	0.93
Turnout			7,782	50.43
Electors on the lists			15,432	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-20.88

2016 by-election

August 30, 2016 by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic Party	Lisa Roberts	2,519	50.97	+6.98
	Liberal	Rod Wilson	1,662	33.63	-6.77
	Progressive Conservative	Andy Arsenault	600	12.14	+1.32
	Green	Thomas Trappenberg	161	3.26	-1.53
Total valid votes			4,942	100.00
Total rejected ballots			21	0.42	-0.50
Turnout			4,963	32.50	-17.93
Electors on the lists			15,270	–
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+6.87

2017

v t e 2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Lisa Roberts	3,880	51.4	+0.43
	Liberal	Melinda Daye	2,075	27.5	-6.13
	Progressive Conservative	Matthew Donahoe	1,135	15.0	+2.86
	Green	Andrew Jamieson	465	6.2	+2.94
Total valid votes			7,599	45.9
Total rejected ballots			44
Eligible voters			16,558
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-3.28
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[4][5]

2021

2017 provincial election redistributed results[6]
Party		Vote	%
	New Democratic	4,007	51.29
	Liberal	2,220	28.42
	Progressive Conservative	1,125	14.40
	Green	460	5.89

v t e 2021 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Suzy Hansen	5,308	58.96	+7.67	$70,071.07
	Liberal	Colin Coady	2,617	29.07	+0.65	$63,403.44
	Progressive Conservative	Scott Ellis	904	10.04	-4.36	$25,818.91
	Green	Kai Trappenberg	173	1.92	-3.97	$200.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			9,002	99.52	–	$97,461.81
Total rejected ballots			43	0.48
Turnout			9,045	53.34
Eligible voters			16,957
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.51
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[7]

2024

v t e 2024 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Suzy Hansen	5,063	67.8%
	Progressive Conservative	Trayvone Clayton	1,276	17.1%
	Liberal	Jon Frost	1,003	13.4%
	Green	Amethyste Hamel-Gregory	127	1.7%
Total valid votes
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			7,469
Eligible voters
	New Democratic hold		Swing
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[8]