# Bedford (provincial electoral district)

Bedford was a provincial electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada, that elected one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. Its current Member of the Legislative Assembly is Kelly Regan.
The electoral district was created in 1978 as Bedford-Musquodoboit Valley from the redistribution of Halifax Cobequid. The name was changed to Bedford-Fall River in 1993 and the district lost the Musquodoboit Valley area to Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley.
In 2003, the district was renamed Bedford. It lost the Fall River and Waverley areas and gained one third of Halifax Bedford Basin, as well as an area along the Hammonds Plains Road. It comprises most of Bedford and all of the community southeast of the Bicentennial Highway.
The district is notable for the electoral loss of Liberal leader Francis MacKenzie, in the 2006 election. MacKenzie attempted to win the seat in 2006 for the Nova Scotia Liberal Party. The party polled less than 24% across the province. He lost by more than 800 votes to Len Goucher.
On September 30, 2008 the name of the Bedford district was officially changed to Bedford-Birch Cove. With the 2012 electoral boundary changes, the area of Kearney Lake and Birch Cove moved to Clayton Park West and name of the district officially changed back to Bedford.
In the 2021 Nova Scotia general election, the riding was abolished into Bedford South and Bedford Basin.

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly:
| Legislature | Years | Member | Party |
| 63rd | 2017–2021 | Kelly Regan | Liberal |
| 62nd | 2013–2017 | Kelly Regan | Liberal |
| 61st | 2009–2013 | Kelly Regan | Liberal |
| 60th | 2006–2009 | Len Goucher | Progressive Conservative |
| 59th | 2003–2006 | Peter Christie | Progressive Conservative |
| 58th | 1999-2003 | Peter Christie | Progressive Conservative |
| 57th | 1998-1999 | Francene Cosman | Liberal |
| 56th | 1993-1998 | Francene Cosman | Liberal |
| 55th | 1988-1993 | Ken Streatch | Progressive Conservative |
| 54th | 1984-1988 | Ken Streatch | Progressive Conservative |
| 53rd | 1981-1984 | Ken Streatch | Progressive Conservative |
| 52nd | 1978-1981 | Ken Streatch | Progressive Conservative |

## Election results
### 1978

1978 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ken Streatch | 4,951 | 58.93% | – |
| | Liberal | Norman J. MacLean | 2,743 | 32.65% | – |
| | New Democratic | Gerald B. Hoganson | 708 | 8.43% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,402 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1978). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Twenty-Ninth General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer. |||||||

### 1981

1981 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ken Streatch | 4,929 | 57.62% | -1.30% |
| | Liberal | Dwight Isenor | 2,246 | 26.26% | -6.39% |
| | New Democratic | Bruce Carroll | 1,379 | 16.12% | 7.69% |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,554 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1981). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirteith General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer. |||||||

### 1984

1984 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ken Streatch | 4,953 | 59.98% | 2.36% |
| | Liberal | John M. Dillon | 1,755 | 21.25% | -5.00% |
| | New Democratic | Susan Coldwell | 1,468 | 17.78% | 1.66% |
| | Labour | Alfred Nieforth | 82 | 0.99% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 8,258 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1984). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-First General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer. |||||||

### 1988

1988 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ken Streatch | 5,740 | 51.49% | -8.48% |
| | Liberal | Gerald Regan | 3,803 | 34.12% | 12.86% |
| | New Democratic | Susan Coldwell | 1,604 | 14.39% | -3.39% |
| Total | Total | Total | 11,147 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1988). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Second General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer. |||||||

### 1993

1993 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Francene Cosman | 4,794 | 44.19% | 10.08% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter J. Kelly | 4,401 | 40.57% | -10.92% |
| | New Democratic | Ryan Kidney | 1,653 | 15.24% | 0.85% |
| Total | Total | Total | 10,848 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia. Chief Electoral Officer (1993). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Third General Election (PDF). Queen's Printer. |||||||

### 1998

1998 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Francene Cosman | 4,205 | 37.58% | -6.61% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter G. Christie | 3,892 | 34.79% | -5.78% |
| | New Democratic | Marvin Silver | 3,091 | 27.63% | 12.39% |
| Total | Total | Total | 11,188 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. |||||||

### 1999

1999 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter G. Christie | 6,566 | 57.28% | 22.49% |
| | New Democratic | Jane Earle | 2,700 | 23.55% | -4.07% |
| | Liberal | Gerry St. Armand | 2,197 | 19.17% | -18.42% |
| Total | Total | Total | 11,463 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. |||||||

### 2003

2003 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Peter G. Christie | 4,114 | 43.87% | -13.41% |
| | Liberal | Richard Zurawski | 3,208 | 34.21% | 15.05% |
| | New Democratic | Bob Watson | 2,055 | 21.92% | -1.64% |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,377 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. |||||||

### 2006

2006 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Len Goucher | 4,090 | 42.22% | -1.65% |
| | Liberal | Francis MacKenzie | 3,286 | 33.92% | -0.29% |
| | New Democratic | John Buckland | 2,019 | 20.84% | -1.07% |
| | Green | Mary McLaughlan | 292 | 3.01% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 9,687 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. |||||||

### 2009

2009 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Kelly Regan | 4,861 | 44.48% | 10.56% |
| | New Democratic | Brian Mosher | 3,552 | 32.50% | 11.66% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Len Goucher | 2,268 | 20.75% | -21.47% |
| | Green | Neil Green | 248 | 2.27% | -0.75% |
| Total | Total | Total | 10,929 | – |
| Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2021). "Electoral History for Bedford" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. |||||||

### 2013

2013 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Liberal | Kelly Regan | 6,081 | 60.66 | +16.18 |
| Progressive Conservative | Joan Christie | 2,026 | 20.21 | -0.54 |
| New Democratic Party | Mike Poworozynk | 1,701 | 16.97 | -15.53 |
| Green | Ian Charles | 217 | 2.16 | -0.11 |

### 2017

vte2017 Nova Scotia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Kelly Regan | 5,831 | 52.69 | -7.97 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Valerie White | 3,388 | 30.62 | +10.41 |
| | New Democratic | Blake Wright | 1,362 | 12.31 | -4.66 |
| | Green | Michealle Hanshaw | 485 | 4.38 | +2.22 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 11,066 | 100 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 44 | 0.40 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,110 | 51.85 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 21,429 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | -9.19 |
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia |||||||