# Kelowna West

Kelowna West (name from 2017 to 2024) or Westside-Kelowna (name from 2009 to 2017) is a former provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada. It combined a portion of the City of Kelowna on the east shore of Lake Okanagan with communities on the west shore.

## History

The district was established as Westside-Kelowna by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008 and first contested in the 2009 general election. The riding was created out of parts of Okanagan-Westside, Kelowna-Lake Country and Kelowna-Mission. It was renamed Kelowna West in the 2015 electoral redistribution with only minor boundary changes.
Just weeks after the 2013 British Columbia election, newly re-elected MLA Ben Stewart resigned to allow Premier Christy Clark, who had lost her own seat, to run in a by-election.
Clark resigned the seat and leadership of the BC Liberals effective August 4, 2017, after losing a confidence vote. A by-election for the seat was held on February 14, 2018.
Under the 2021 redistribution that took effect with the 2024 general election the riding was divided, with portions on the west side of Okanagan Lake being redistributed to the new district of West Kelowna-Peachland and portions east of Okanagan Lake in the City of Kelowna transferring to the new district of Kelowna Centre.

## Geography

The riding contains the city of West Kelowna, all of the Regional District of Central Okanagan west of Lake Okanagan and north of Peachland and the central part of the city of Kelowna.

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| Westside-Kelowna |||||
| 39th | 2009–2013 | Ben Stewart | Liberal |
| 40th | 2013 | Ben Stewart | Liberal |
| 40th | 2013–2017 | Christy Clark | Liberal |
| Kelowna West |||||
| 41st | 2017 | Christy Clark | Liberal |
| 41st | 2018 – August 2019 | Ben Stewart | Liberal |
| 41st | August–October 2019 | Ben Stewart | Independent |
| 41st | October 2019 – 2020 | Ben Stewart | Liberal |
| 42nd | November 2020–2023 | Ben Stewart | Liberal |
| 42nd | 2023-October 2024 | Ben Stewart | BC United |

## Electoral history
### Kelowna West

vte2020 British Columbia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Ben Stewart | 12,991 | 49.89 | −6.39 | $25,167.49 |
| | New Democratic | Spring Hawes | 8,854 | 34.00 | +10.49 | $3,285.58 |
| | Green | Peter Truch | 3,274 | 12.57 | −0.10 | $3,191.00 |
| | Libertarian | Matt Badura | 474 | 1.82 | +1.01 | $0.00 |
| | Independent | Magee Mitchell | 446 | 1.71 | – | $472.20 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 26,039 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vteBritish Columbia provincial by-election, February 14, 2018 Resignation of Christy Clark :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Ben Stewart | 8,406 | 56.28 | −2.77 | $87,790 |
| | New Democratic | Shelley Cook | 3,511 | 23.51 | −1.63 | $49,337 |
| | Green | Robert Stupka | 1,893 | 12.67 | −1.00 | $54,984 |
| | Conservative | Mark Thompson | 1,006 | 6.73 | – | $6,419 |
| | Libertarian | Kyle Michael Ernest Geronazzo | 121 | 0.81 | – | $250 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 14,937 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 35 | 0.23 | +0.07 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,972 | 31.55 | −9.29 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 47,461 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | −0.57 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2017 British Columbia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Christy Clark | 15,674 | 58.98 | +0.98 | $80,880 |
| | New Democratic | Shelley Cook | 6,712 | 25.25 | −5.71 | $26,274 |
| | Green | Robert Mellalieu | 3,628 | 13.65 | – | $1,399 |
| | Independent | Brian Thiesen | 570 | 2.14 | – | $2,045 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 26,584 | 100.0 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 128 | 0.48 | +0.32 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,712 | 55.46 | +14.62 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 48,162 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +3.34 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||

### Westside-Kelowna

vteBritish Columbia provincial by-election, July 10, 2013: Westside-Kelowna Resignation of Ben Stewart :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Christy Clark | 11,758 | 62.66 | +4.58 | $56,758 |
| | New Democratic | Carole Gordon | 5,563 | 29.64 | −1.20 | $38,827 |
| | Conservative | Sean Upshaw | 1,115 | 5.94 | −5.14 | $9,755 |
| | Independent | Dayleen Van Ryswyk | 134 | 0.71 | – | $373 |
| | Independent | John Marks | 74 | 0.39 | – | $250 |
| | Independent | Silverado Brooks Socrates | 46 | 0.25 | – | $250 |
| | Vision | JB Bhandari | 45 | 0.24 | – | $2,261 |
| | Independent | Korry Zepik | 31 | 0.17 | – | $440 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 18,766 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 31 | 0.16 | −0.80 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,797 | 40.84 | −6.68 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 46,021 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +2.89 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2013 British Columbia general election: Westside-Kelowna :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Ben Stewart | 12,405 | 58.07 | +4.75 | $74,230 |
| | New Democratic | Carole Gordon | 6,588 | 30.84 | +1.66 | $37,807 |
| | Conservative | Brian Guillou | 2,368 | 11.09 | -1.94 | $4,295 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,361 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 209 | 0.97 | +0.42 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,570 | 47.52 | +0.15 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 45,389 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +1.55 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
2009 British Columbia general election: Westside-Kelowna :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Ben Stewart | 10,334 | 53.33 | $95,251 |
| | New Democratic | Tish Lakes | 5,656 | 29.19 | $26,122 |
| | Conservative | Peter Neville | 1,772 | 9.14 | $9,705 |
| | Green | Robin McKim | 1,617 | 8.34 | $1,075 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 19,379 | 99.45 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 107 | 0.55 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 19,486 | 47.35 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 41,155 |