The NDP is now the Official Opposition in Nova Scotia as the Liberals are being dealt a devastating blow on election night.
Global News has projected a second-majority government for Progressive Conservative (PC) Leader Tim Houston, who called a snap election despite first promising not to do so.
At the dissolution of the legislature last month, the PCs held 34 seats, the Liberals had 14 seats, the NDP held six and there was one independent member.
As of 11:59 p.m. Atlantic Tuesday, the PCs were elected or leading in 40 ridings, the NDP in 10 and the Liberals in three. One independent member – Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin – is projected to retain her seat in Cumberland North.
Claudia Chender, leader of the Nova Scotia NDP, was elected in her riding of Dartmouth South. Chender is now the first woman to be elected as Official Opposition leader in Nova Scotia’s history. The last woman to hold the role was PC Karla MacFarlane in 2018.
“While we had hoped for a different result tonight, make no mistake, our vision for a different kind of government has struck a nerve,” Chender told the crowd at her election night party.
“While today marks the end of this election., it marks the beginning of the next one and after three years, we know what we are getting from the conservatives: broken promises and backroom deals. … Tim Houston got away with it when the Liberals were in opposition, but that ends today.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill was down for majority of the night in his own riding of Yarmouth. At one point, he held a five vote lead. However, with 39 out of 40 polls reporting as of 11:59 p.m. Atlantic, Churchill is tied with PC candidate Nick Hilton, as both have 5,017 votes.
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Churchill was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Yarmouth in a by-election in 2010, and was re-elected in 2013, 2017, and 2021. He was elected leader of the party in 2022.
He told the crowd at his election night gathering he was “so sorry” he couldn’t deliver a positive result for the party.
“This wasn’t the result that we wanted as a party. But I’ll tell you, we left it all on the ice out there. We fought hard, and I have to say I’m so proud of the candidates,” he said.
“This loss belongs to me and me alone, and I’m OK with that. But we’ve got to move forward as a party and as a community.”
Churchill added he will talk about his future with his family and the party once the final results are in.
Tuesday’s result for the Liberals is the worst for the party since 2006 when it secured just nine seats in the provincial election. After that election, the NDP formed the Official Opposition with 20 seats in the House; the PCs held 23 seats.
When Houston called the snap election last month, both of the province’s opposition leaders were critical of it, saying he broke his promise to adhere to a fixed election date.
Churchill and Chender were both leading their first provincial campaign since taking the reins of their parties. Chender was also elected NDP leader in 2022.
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