Chester-St. Margaret's

Chester—St. Margaret's is a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. It is located on the South Shore.

Chester-St. Margaret's

Nova Scotia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
MLA	Danielle Barkhouse Progressive Conservative
District created	1956
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2011)	20,368
Electors	15,291
Area (km²)	1,661
Pop. density (per km²)	12.3
Census division(s)	Halifax RM, Lunenburg County

The constituency was created in 1956 as a division of Lunenburg County. It was called Lunenburg East from 1956 to 1993. In 1993, the district was renamed Chester—St. Margaret's and gained Tancook Islands from Lunenburg Centre and St. Margaret's Bay from Halifax St. Margarets. In 2003, it gained the communities of West Dover and Bayside. In 2012, the district lost the Upper Tantallon area north of Highway 103 to Hammonds Plains-Lucasville.^[1]

The district includes the Municipality of Chester and the communities in the Halifax Regional Municipality along the coast of St. Margarets Bay including Peggys Cove. Major towns in the riding include Hubbards, Chester, Western Shore, Boutiliers Point and Head of St. Margarets Bay.

Geography

The land area of Chester-St. Margaret's is 1,661 km² (641 sq mi).^[2]

Statistics

Avg. Income: $27,440 (2003)
Population: 19,720 (2003)
Post-secondary education: 36% (2003)

Members of the Legislative Assembly

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

Legislature	Years	Member		Party
Lunenburg East Riding created from Lunenburg
46th	1956–1959		R. Clifford Levy	Progressive Conservative
	1959–1960		Maurice L. Zinck
47th	1960–1963
48th	1963–1967
49th	1967–1970
50th	1970–1974
51st	1974–1978		Ron Barkhouse
52nd	1978–1981
53rd	1981–1984
54th	1984–1988		Jim Barkhouse	Liberal
55th	1988–1993
Chester-St. Margaret's
56th	1993–1998		Jim Barkhouse	Liberal
57th	1998–1998		Hinrich Bitter-Suermann	Progressive Conservative
	1998–1999			New Democratic
58th	1999–2003		John Chataway	Progressive Conservative
59th	2003–2005
	2005–2006		Judy Streatch
60th	2006–2009
61st	2009–2013		Denise Peterson-Rafuse	New Democratic
62nd	2013–2017
63rd	2017–2020		Hugh MacKay	Liberal
	2020–2021			Independent
64th	2021–2024		Danielle Barkhouse	Progressive Conservative
65th	2024–present

Election results

2024

2024 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Danielle Barkhouse	4,776	58.1%	+18.04
	Liberal	Laura Mulrooney	2,160	26.3%	-11.31
	New Democratic	Brendan Mosher	1,290	15.7%	-1.50
Total valid votes
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			8,226
Eligible voters
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[3]

2021

v t e 2021 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Danielle Barkhouse	3,788	40.06	+14.40	$76,695.05
	Liberal	Jacob Killawee	3,556	37.61	+2.38	$67,872.46
	New Democratic	Amy Reitsma	1,626	17.20	-17.23	$50,011.78
	Green	Jessica Alexander	417	4.41	-0.27	$10,917.97
	Atlantica	Steven Foster	68	0.72		$200.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			9,455	99.62	-0.17	$88,319.62
Total rejected ballots			36	0.38	+0.17
Turnout			9,491	62.48	+4.88
Eligible voters			15,191
	Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+6.01
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[4][5]

2017

2017 provincial election redistributed results[6]
Party		Vote	%
	Liberal	2,934	35.23
	New Democratic	2,867	34.43
	Progressive Conservative	2,137	25.66
	Green	390	4.68

v t e 2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hugh MacKay	3,112	35.46	+4.40
	New Democratic	Denise Peterson-Rafuse	3,021	34.42	-0.82
	Progressive Conservative	Julie Chaisson	2,230	25.41	-8.29
	Green	Harry Ward	413	4.71
Total valid votes			8,776	100
Total rejected ballots			32	0.21
Turnout			8,808	57.60
Eligible voters			15,291
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+2.61
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[7][8]

2013

2013 Nova Scotia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic Party	Denise Peterson-Rafuse	3,341	35.25	-12.84
	Progressive Conservative	Janet Elizabeth Irwin	3,193	33.69	+6.22
	Liberal	Timothy Whitman Harris	2,943	31.06	+9.95

2009

2009 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Denise Peterson-Rafuse	4,835	48.09%	17.49%
	Progressive Conservative	Judy Streatch	2,762	27.47%	-15.20%
	Liberal	Jo-Ann Grant	2,122	21.11%	-2.57%
	Green	Ryan Cameron	335	3.33%	0.29%
Total			10,054	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2006

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Judy Streatch	3,950	42.67%	5.37%
	New Democratic	Jane Matheson	2,833	30.60%	-6.27%
	Liberal	Rick Fraughton	2,192	23.68%	-0.63%
	Green	Joanne MacKinnon	282	3.05%	–
Total			9,257	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2005 by-election

Chester-St. Margaret's By-election, June 21, 2005

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Judy Streatch	2,955	36.18	-1.15
	Liberal	Rick Fraughton	2,548	31.20	+6.95
	New Democratic Party	Hinrich Bitter-Suermann	2,434	29.80	-7.10
	Green	Michael Oddy	210	2.57	–

2003

2003 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	John Chataway	3,451	37.30%	-7.97%
	New Democratic	Hinrich Bitter-Suermann	3,412	36.87%	3.43%
	Liberal	Mitt Larsen	2,249	24.31%	3.03%
	Nova Scotia Party	Sue Gault	141	1.52%	–
Total			9,253	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1999

1999 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	John Chataway	4,193	45.27%	10.06%
	New Democratic	Hinrich Bitter-Suermann	3,098	33.45%	2.76%
	Liberal	Karen Willis Duerden	1,971	21.28%	-12.82%
Total			9,262	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1998

1998 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Hinrich Bitter-Suermann	3,256	35.22%	5.72%
	Liberal	Jim Barkhouse	3,153	34.10%	-17.59%
	New Democratic	Doris Maley	2,837	30.68%	13.77%
Total			9,246	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1993

1993 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jim Barkhouse	5,025	51.69%	1.67%
	Progressive Conservative	Aileen Heisler	2,867	29.49%	-9.42%
	New Democratic	Jack Ross	1,644	16.91%	6.61%
	Independent	Malcolm Callaway	185	1.90%	1.14%
Total			9,721	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1988

1988 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jim Barkhouse	3,024	50.02%	0.96%
	Progressive Conservative	Richard P. Eldridge	2,352	38.91%	6.81%
	New Democratic	Wanda Broome	623	10.31%	-8.53%
	Independent	Malcolm Callaway	46	0.76%	–
Total			6,045	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1984

1984 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jim Barkhouse	2,696	49.06%	25.70%
	Progressive Conservative	David Hatt	1,764	32.10%	-23.38%
	New Democratic	Janet Mooney	1,035	18.84%	-2.31%
Total			5,495	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1981

1981 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Barkhouse	2,802	55.49%	-11.45%
	Liberal	Dave Cook	1,180	23.37%	-4.64%
	New Democratic	Janet Mooney	1,068	21.15%	16.09%
Total			5,050	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1978

1978 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Barkhouse	3,386	66.93%	13.89%
	Liberal	Wally MacDonald	1,417	28.01%	-13.05%
	New Democratic	Robert Whiting (Sr.)	256	5.06%	-0.84%
Total			5,059	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1974

1974 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ron Barkhouse	2,536	53.04%	1.73%
	Liberal	Joe Saunders	1,963	41.06%	-7.63%
	New Democratic	A. W. (Tony) E. Zinck	282	5.90%	–
Total			4,781	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1970

1970 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Maurice L. Zinck	2,092	51.31%	-4.55%
	Liberal	Eric Hagen	1,985	48.69%	4.55%
Total			4,077	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1967

1967 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Maurice L. Zinck	2,100	55.87%	-7.30%
	Liberal	Fred Porter Jr.	1,659	44.13%	7.30%
Total			3,759	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1963

1963 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Maurice L. Zinck	2,267	63.17%	4.79%
	Liberal	Charles E. Harris	1,322	36.83%	-1.49%
Total			3,589	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1960

1960 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Maurice L. Zinck	2,140	58.37%	3.93%
	Liberal	Kirk S. Hennigar	1,405	38.33%	-7.23%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Albro Boehner	121	3.30%	–
Total			3,666	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1956

1956 Nova Scotia general election: Lunenburg East
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	R. Clifford Levy	1,887	54.44%	–
	Liberal	Kirk S. Hennigar	1,579	45.56%	–
Total			3,466	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Chester-St. Margaret's" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.