# Nanaimo City

Nanaimo City was a provincial electoral district in the city of Nanaimo, British Columbia in Canada from 1890 to 1912. It was one of two Nanaimo ridings at the time, created out of the older Nanaimo riding (1871 to 1928), with intermediary ridings The Islands and Nanaimo and the Islands. The name Nanaimo was restored as a riding name in the 1966 election.
For other current and historical federal and provincial Nanaimo-area ridings please see Nanaimo (electoral districts).

## Demographics

| Population, 1911 | |
| Population Change, 1891–1911 | % |
| Area (km²) | |
| Pop. Density (people per km²) | |

## Other historical Nanaimo ridings

* Nanaimo 1871-1928
* Nanaimo and the Islands -1963
* South Nanaimo
* North Nanaimo
* The Islands
Nanaimo riding did not appear in the 1909 election, but Nanaimo City and The Islands were the Nanaimo-area ridings in the 1909 or 1912 election.
In 1933 there was a Cowichan-Newcastle riding, while in 1937 the riding of Newcastle (southern and upland of metropolitan Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands to the southeast) appeared in the 1916 election, as did a new riding called The Islands which lasted until the 1937 election. Part of that area is now represented by North Saanich and the Islands, which had previously been Saanich and the Islands.

## Current Nanaimo-area ridings

* Nanaimo 1996–present
* Nanaimo-Parksville

## Election results

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.
6th British Columbia election, 1890 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures |
| | Labour $^1$ | Thomas Keith | Accl. | -.- % | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | n/a | -.- % |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | |
| $^1$ The first labour candidates elected to the legislature. Forster and Keith were both nominated by the Miners' and Mine Labourers' Protective Association (MMLPA) and campaigned on the "Workingmen's Platform" of the Workingmen's Campaign Committee. |||||||
7th British Columbia election, 1894 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Labour | Thomas Keith | 411 | 48.81% | | unknown |
| | Government | James McGregor | 431 | 51.19% | – | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 842 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | | |
8th British Columbia election, 1898 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Government | Archibald McGregor | 170 | 20.05% | – | unknown |
| | Opposition | Robert Edward McKechnie | 678 | 79.95% | – | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 848 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55.37% | | |
9th British Columbia election, 1900 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Labour $^2$ | Ralph Smith | 763 | 89.87% | | unknown |
| | Government | James Stuart Yates | 86 | 10.13% | – | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 849 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | | |
| $^2$ Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party candidate supported by R.E. McKechnie, former Member and supporter of the Provincial Party. Also endorsed by Nanaimo Trades and Labour Council. The N(I)LP appears to have been only loosely organized although a detailed platform was drawn up. |||||||
10th British Columbia election, 1903 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Socialist | James Hurst Hawthornthwaite | 486 | 43.98% | – | unknown |
| | Conservative | Edward Quennell | 325 | 29.41% | | unknown |
| | Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party $^3$ | Henry (Harry) Shepherd | 294 | 26.61% | | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 1,105 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | | |
| $^3$ Nominated by the Nanaimo (Independent) Labour Party which had the support and participation of local Liberals (Loosmore, pp. 195–6). During the 1907 election he was referred to as having been a "Liberal-Labour candidate" in the 1903 election. |||||||
11th British Columbia election, 1907 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Socialist | James Hurst Hawthornthwaite | 455 | 50.22% | – | unknown |
| | Conservative | Robert Stuart Brock O'Brian | 161 | 17.77% | | unknown |
| | Independent) Labour Party $^4$ | Henry (Harry) Shepherd | 290 | 32.01% | | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 906 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | | |
| $^4$ The nomination list printed in the newspapers identifies Shepherd as a Liberal. CPG labels both Shepherd and Thomas "Socialists" and Gosnell (who spells Shepherd as Sheppard, as do some other sources) has them as "L.-Soc.", which could be either Liberal or Labour-Socialist. One newspaper refers to Shepherd as a member of the "Nanaimo Liberal Party", another as a nominee of the "Independent Labour Party", "a peculiar combination of Liberal politicians" (Vancouver Province 29 December 1906, p. 1). Thomas is also reported as a nominee of the "Independent Labour Party" in Ladysmith. Shepherd ran as a Liberal in 1912, Thomas as a straight Independent in 1909. |||||||
12th British Columbia election, 1909 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Socialist | James Hurst Hawthornthwaite | 786 | 62.88% | – | unknown |
| | Conservative | Albert Edward Planta | 464 | 37.12% | | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 1,250 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | | |
13th British Columbia election, 1912 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures |
| | Social Democratic | John Thomas Wilmot Place | 621 | 39.45% |
| | Conservative | Albert Edward Planta | 578 | 36.72% | unknown |
| | Liberal | Henry (Harry) Shepherd | 375 | 23.82% | unknown |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 1,574 | 100.00% |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | % | |
The name Nanaimo City was dropped after the 1912 election. In the 1916 election the Nanaimo name was used.