The NDP picked up a lot of seats outside of the Halifax Regional Municipality in last night’s election, helping to give them a comfortable majority.
Some key areas that shifted in the NDP’s favour included the South and Eastern Shore and Central Nova Scotia. Lenore Zann became the first NDP to be elected in Truro-Bible Hill, winning with 48 per cent of the vote.
“The time for change had come, I think it was a perfect storm,” Zann said. “I think this shows that people were really ready for a real genuine change.”
In Cumberland North where former Tory cabinet minister Ernie Fage was running as an independent, Brian Skabar of the NDP took the seat with more than 40 per cent of the vote. Fage likely split some of the vote with Progressive Conservative candidate Keith Hunter, giving Skabar the edge.
Pam Birdsall won for the NDP in Lunenburg with 49 per cent of the vote. The seat is home to the former Finance Minister Michael Baker, a prominent PC member who died three months ago.
Judy Streatch was defeated in her riding of Chester-St. Margaret’s by Denise Peterson-Rafuse of the NDP. Streatch was the Minister of Education and also the Minister of Communications Nova Scotia in Rodney MacDonald’s cabinet.
Minister of Agriculture Mark Parent lost to the NDP’s Jim Morton by just under 500 votes.
Other PC ridings outside HRM that turned NDP included Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, Guysborough-Sheet Harbour, Kings South, Lunenburg West and Pictou Centre.
Stephen McNeil’s Liberals, now the official Opposition, managed to hold on to all of their ridings in the Annapolis Valley and Cape Breton regions. In total they won 11 seats.
– with files from Truro Daily News
