List of premiers of Nova Scotia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of the premiers of Nova Scotia, both as a colony and as a province of Canada. Nova Scotia uses a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the House of Assembly. The premier, sometimes called the prime minister, acts as Nova Scotia's head of government, while the Queen of Canada acts as its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Nova Scotia, and presides over that body.

Members are first elected to the House during general elections. General elections must be conducted every five years from the date of the last election, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the legislative assembly. An election may also happen if the Governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.

Before Canadian confederation in 1867, Nova Scotia was a British crown colony. It had had a system of responsible government beginning in 1848. Since 1867, Nova Scotia has been a part of the Canadian federation. It has kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters.

The premiership of Nova Scotia has traditionally been characterized by long holds on the office by one party, only to be dramatically replaced by the other. In the table, dark blue denotes the various parties that led to the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia and red bordered images denote the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia.

[edit] Premiers of the colony of Nova Scotia (1848-1867)

  Name Party Term
    
James B. Uniacke Liberal 1848-1854
    
William Young Liberal 1854-1857
    
James W. Johnston Conservative 1857-1860
    
William Young Liberal 1860
    
Joseph Howe Liberal 1860-1863
    
James W. Johnston Conservative 1863-1864
    
Charles Tupper Confederation Party 1864-1867

[edit] Premiers of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, since Confederation (1867).

  Name Party Term
    
Charles Tupper Confederation Party 1867*
     Hiram Blanchard Conservative 1867
     William Annand Anti-Confederation-Liberal 1867-1875
     Philip Carteret Hill Liberal 1875-1878
    
Simon H. Holmes Conservative 1878-1882
    
John Sparrow David Thompson Conservative 1882
    
William T. Pipes Liberal 1882-1884
    
William S. Fielding Liberal 1884-1896
    
George H. Murray Liberal 1896-1923
     Ernest H. Armstrong Liberal 1923-1925
    
Edgar N. Rhodes Conservative 1925-1930
     Gordon S. Harrington Conservative 1930-1933
    
Angus L. Macdonald Liberal 1933-1940
     Alexander S. MacMillan Liberal 1940-1945
    
Angus L. Macdonald (again) Liberal 1945-1954
     Harold Connolly Liberal 1954
     Henry D. Hicks Liberal 1954-1956
     Robert L. Stanfield Progressive Conservative 1956-1967
     George I. Smith Progressive Conservative 1967-1970
     Gerald A. Regan Liberal 1970-1978
    
John Buchanan Progressive Conservative 1978-1990
     Roger Bacon Progressive Conservative 1990-1991
     Donald W. Cameron Progressive Conservative 1991-1993
     John Savage Liberal 1993-1997
    
Russell MacLellan Liberal 1997-1999
    
John F. Hamm Progressive Conservative 1999-2006
    
Rodney MacDonald Progressive Conservative 2006-

(*) July 1 - July 4, 1867


[edit] Sources

Government of Nova Scotia

For more lists of this type, see Lists of incumbents.