List of premiers of Nova Scotia

Stephen McNeil is the current Premier of Nova Scotia.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia was a British colony with a system of responsible government since 1848, before it joined Canadian Confederation in 1867. Since Confederation, the province has been a part of the Canadian federation and has kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters.^[1]

Nova Scotia has 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 is Nova Scotia's head of government, and the Queen of Nova Scotia is 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.^[1]

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 occur if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.^[2] Nova Scotia has had 27 individuals serve as premier since Confederation, of which 12 were Conservatives, 14 were Liberals, and one NDP.

Premiers of Nova Scotia

  Confederation Party   Nova Scotia Liberal Party   Nova Scotia New Democratic Party   Progressive Conservative Association of Nova Scotia

Premiers of the Colony of Nova Scotia (1848–1867)

Premier (party)			Period	Assembly	Length of tenure
	1st	James Boyle Uniacke (Liberal)	February 2, 1848 April 3, 1854	18th[N 1]	6 years, 60 days
	19th
		2nd	William Young (Liberal) (1st of 2 non-consecutive terms)	April 4, 1854 February 20, 1857	2 years, 322 days
	20th
		3rd	James William Johnston (Conservative) (1st of 2 non-consecutive terms)	February 24, 1857 February 7, 1860	2 years, 348 days
	22nd[N 2]
		—	William Young (Liberal) (2nd of 2 non-consecutive terms)	February 10, 1860 August 3, 1860	175 days
		4th	Joseph Howe (Liberal)	August 3, 1860 June 5, 1863	2 years, 306 days
	—	James William Johnston (Conservative) (2nd of 2 non-consecutive terms)	June 11, 1863 May 11, 1864	23rd	335 days
	5th	Charles Tupper (Confederation Party)	May 11, 1864 July 3, 1867		3 years, 53 days

Premiers of the Province of Nova Scotia (1867–present)

Premier (party)			Period	Assembly	Elections	Length of tenure	Mandates
	1st	Hiram Blanchard (Conservative)	July 4, 1867 September 30, 1867	—	Designated July 4, 1867	88 days	0
	2nd	William Annand (Anti-Confederation-Liberal)	November 7, 1867 May 8, 1875	24th	Elected September 18, 1867	7 years, 182 days	3
	25th			Re-elected May 16, 1871
	26th			Re-elected December 17, 1874 Resigned May 8, 1875
		3rd	Philip Carteret Hill (Liberal)	May 11, 1875 October 15, 1878	Designated May 11, 1875	3 years, 157 days	0
	4th	Simon Hugh Holmes (Conservative)	October 22, 1878 May 23, 1882	27th	Elected September 17, 1878	3 years, 213 days	1
	5th	John Sparrow David Thompson (Conservative)	May 25, 1882 July 18, 1882		Designated May 25, 1882 Resigned July 18, 1882	54 days	0
	6th	William Thomas Pipes (Liberal)	August 3, 1882 July 15, 1884	28th	Elected June 20, 1882 Resigned July 15, 1884	1 year, 347 days	1
	7th	William Stevens Fielding (Liberal)	July 28, 1884 July 18, 1896		Designated July 28, 1884	11 years, 356 days	3
	29th			Re-elected June 15, 1886
	30th			Re-elected May 21, 1890
	31st			Re-elected March 15, 1894 Resigned July 18, 1896
		8th	George Henry Murray (Liberal)	July 20, 1896 January 24, 1923	Designated July 20, 1896	26 years, 188 days	6
	32nd	Re-elected April 20, 1897
	33rd	Re-elected October 2, 1901
	34th	Re-elected June 20, 1906
	35th	Re-elected June 14, 1911
	36th	Re-elected June 20, 1916
	37th	Re-elected July 27, 1920 Resigned January 24, 1923
		9th	Ernest Howard Armstrong (Liberal)	January 24, 1923 July 16, 1925	Designated January 24, 1923	2 years, 173 days	0
	10th	Edgar Nelson Rhodes (Conservative)	July 16, 1925 August 11, 1930	38th	Elected June 25, 1925	5 years, 26 days	2
	39th			Re-elected October 1, 1928 Resigned August 11, 1930
		11th	Gordon Sidney Harrington (Conservative)	August 11, 1930 September 5, 1933	Designated August 11, 1930	3 years, 25 days	0
	12th	Angus L. Macdonald (Liberal) (1st of 2 non-consecutive terms)	September 5, 1933 July 10, 1940	40th	Elected August 22, 1933	6 years, 309 days	2
	41st			Re-elected June 29, 1937 Resigned July 10, 1940
		13th	Alexander Stirling MacMillan (Liberal)	July 10, 1940 September 8, 1945	Designated July 10, 1940	5 years, 60 days	1
	42nd	Re-elected October 28, 1941 Resigned September 8, 1945
		14th[3]	Angus L. Macdonald (Liberal) (2nd of 2 non-consecutive terms)	September 8, 1945 April 13, 1954	Designated September 8, 1945	8 years, 217 days	3
	43rd	Elected October 23, 1945
	44th	Re-elected June 9, 1949
	45th	Re-elected May 26, 1953 Died April 13, 1954
		15th	Harold Connolly (Liberal)	April 13, 1954 September 30, 1954	Designated April 13, 1954 Resigned September 30, 1954	170 days	0
		16th	Henry Hicks (Liberal)	September 30, 1954 November 20, 1956	Designated September 30, 1954	2 years, 51 days	0
	17th	Robert Stanfield (Progressive Conservative)	November 20, 1956 September 13, 1967	46th	Elected October 30, 1956	10 years, 297 days	4
	47th			Re-elected June 7, 1960
	48th			Re-elected October 8, 1963
	49th			Re-elected May 30, 1967
		18th	George Isaac Smith (Progressive Conservative)	September 13, 1967 October 28, 1970	Designated September 13, 1967	3 years, 45 days	0
	19th	Gerald Regan (Liberal)	October 28, 1970 October 5, 1978	50th	Elected October 13, 1970	7 years, 342 days	2
	51st			Re-elected April 2, 1974
	20th	John Buchanan (Progressive Conservative)	October 5, 1978 September 12, 1990	52nd	Elected September 19, 1978	11 years, 342 days	4
	53rd			Re-elected October 6, 1981
	54th			Re-elected November 6, 1984
	55th			Re-elected September 6, 1988 Resigned September 12, 1990
		21st	Roger Stuart Bacon (Progressive Conservative)	September 12, 1990 February 26, 1991	Designated September 12, 1990 Resigned February 26, 1991	167 days	0
		22nd	Donald William Cameron (Progressive Conservative)	February 26, 1991 June 11, 1993	Designated February 26, 1991	2 years, 105 days	0
	23rd	John Savage (Liberal)	June 11, 1993 July 18, 1997	56th	Elected May 25, 1993 Resigned July 18, 1997	4 years, 37 days	1
	24th	Russell MacLellan (Liberal)	July 18, 1997 August 16, 1999		Designated July 18, 1997	2 years, 29 days	1
	57th			Elected March 24, 1998 to a minority government
	25th	John F. Hamm (Progressive Conservative)	August 16, 1999 February 24, 2006	58th	Elected July 27, 1999	6 years, 192 days	2
	59th			Re-elected August 5, 2003 to a minority government Resigned February 24, 2006
		26th	Rodney MacDonald (Progressive Conservative)	February 24, 2006 June 19, 2009	Designated February 24, 2006 to a minority government	3 years, 115 days	1
	60th	Re-elected June 13, 2006 to a minority government
	27th	Darrell Dexter (New Democrat)	June 19, 2009[3] 22 October 2013	61st	Elected June 9, 2009	4 years, 125 days	1
	28th	Stephen McNeil (Liberal)	22 October 2013[4] present	62nd	Elected October 8, 2013	3 years, 46 days	1

Living former premiers

As of May 2015, eight former premiers are alive, the oldest being Roger S. Bacon (1990–1991, born 1926). The most recent former premier to die was Robert Stanfield (1956–1967), on December 16, 2003. The most recently serving premier to die was John Savage (1993–1997), on May 13, 2003.

Name	Term	Date of birth
Gerald Regan	1970–1978	February 13, 1928
John Buchanan	1978–1990	April 22, 1931
Roger S. Bacon	1990–1991	June 29, 1926
Donald W. Cameron	1991–1993	May 20, 1946
Russell MacLellan	1997–1999	January 16, 1940
John Hamm	1999–2006	April 8, 1938
Rodney MacDonald	2006–2009	January 2, 1972
Darrell Dexter	2009–2013	September 10, 1957

Notes

1. Before Nova Scotia had its own system of responsible government, 17 assemblies had already existed.
2. There was no 21st Assembly. Due to an error made in 1860, the 21st Assembly was referred to as the 22nd, and this mistake has been perpetuated in the numbering of future assemblies.

References

General

• "Nova Scotia Premiers". The Nova Scotia Legislature. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
• "Nova Scotia General Elections". Government of Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 6, 2008.

Specific

1. "Nova Scotia". Library and Archives Canada. May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
2. "Bill C-16: An Act to amend the Canada Elections Act". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
3. "Honourable Darrell Dexter NDP". The Nova Scotia Legislature. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
4. Stephen McNeil leads Liberals to majority in Nova Scotia. CBC News, October 8, 2013.

External links

• Premier of Nova Scotia