List of premiers of Nova Scotia

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.

Premiers of the colony of Nova Scotia (1848-1867)

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

(*) July 1 - July 4, 1867

Sources

[http://www.gov.ns.ca/legislature/FACTS/premiers.html Government of Nova Scotia]

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