Cumberland South

Cumberland South
Nova Scotia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Nova Scotia House of Assembly
MLA	Tory Rushton; Progressive Conservative
;
District created	1993
First contested	1993
Last contested	2024
Demographics
Population (2011)	13,202
Electors (2018)	10,889
Area (km²)	3,263
Pop. density (per km²)	4
Census division	Cumberland County
Census subdivision(s)	Cumberland, Subd. A, Cumberland Subd. B, Cumberland Subd. C, Cumberland Subd. D, Oxford, Parrsboro (dissolved in 2016)

Cumberland South is a provincial electoral district in Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, Canada, that elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. The riding was created before the 1993 election from most of Cumberland West and Cumberland Centre ridings and a small part of Cumberland East.

The communities of Oxford, Parrsboro and Springhill are within its boundaries.

The Member of the Legislative Assembly since 1998 has been held by the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia. A Tory stronghold, Cumberland South has been dominated by Progressive Conservative Murray Scott for over a decade and now Tory Rushton

The 2012 redistribution saw the riding gain territory from Cumberland North.^[1]

Geography

The land area of Cumberland South is 3,263 km² (1,260 sq mi).^[2]

Members of the Legislative Assembly

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly:

Cumberland South
Legislature	Years	Member		Party
Riding created from Cumberland Centre, Cumberland North and Cumberland West
56th	1993–1998		Guy Brown	Liberal
57th	1998–1999		Murray Scott	Progressive Conservative
58th	1999–2003
59th	2003–2005
60th	2006–2009
61st	2009–2010
61st	2010–2013		Jamie Baillie
62nd	2013–2017
63rd	2017–2018
63rd	2018–2021		Tory Rushton
64th	2021–2024
65th	2024–present

Election results

2024

2024 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Tory Rushton	3,442	77.21	8.74
	Liberal	Liam D. MacDonald	540	12.11	-7.06
	New Democratic	Larry Duchesne	476	10.68	1.48
Total			4,458	–
Total rejected ballots			37
Turnout			4,496	38.07
Eligible voters			11,810
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing
Source: Elections Nova Scotia^[3]

2021

2021 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Tory Rushton	3,900	68.47	+9.28	$29,144.30
	Liberal	Rollie Lawless	1,092	19.17	-12.51	$22,771.07
	New Democratic	Larry Duchesne	524	9.20	+4.14	$1,495.12
	Green	Nicholas Hendren	180	3.16	-0.91	$200.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			5,696	99.46	–	$66,923.01
Total rejected ballots			31	0.54
Turnout			5,727	52.12
Eligible voters			10,989
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+10.90
Source: Elections Nova Scotia^[4]^[5]

2017

2017 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jamie Baillie	3,536	51.49	+0.53
	Liberal	Kenny John Jackson	2,779	40.47	+0.26
	New Democratic	Larry Duchesne	398	5.80	-0.98
	Atlantica	Thor Lengies	154	2.24
Total valid votes			6,897	100.00
Total rejected ballots			35	0.51	-0.19
Turnout			6,902	62.37	-3.36
Eligible voters			11,066
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+0.14
Source: Elections Nova Scotia^[6]^[7]

2018 by-election

Nova Scotia provincial by-election, June 19, 2018 Resignation of Jamie Baillie
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Tory Rushton	3,417	59.19	+7.70	$22,387
	Liberal	Scott Lockhart	1,829	31.68	-8.79	$32,332
	New Democratic	Larry Duchesne	292	5.06	-0.74	$9,239
	Green	Bruce McCulloch	235	4.07	—	$1,234
Total valid votes			5,773
Total rejected ballots			17
Turnout			5,773	53.02	-9.35
Eligible voters			10,889
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+8.24
Source: Elections Nova Scotia^[8]

2013

2013 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jamie Baillie	3,655	50.96%	-6.24%
	Liberal	Kenny John Jackson	2,884	40.21%	2.25%
	New Democratic	Larry Duchesne	486	6.78%	1.94%
	Green	Bruce W. McCulloch	147	2.05%	–
Total valid votes			7,172	100.00
Total rejected ballots			50	0.7
Turnout			7,222	65.73
Eligible voters			10,987
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2013). 39th Provincial General Election, October 8, 2013: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2026.

2010 by-election

Nova Scotia provincial by-election, October 26, 2010
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Jamie Baillie	3,262	57.20%	-10.46%
	Liberal	Kenny John Jackson	2,165	37.96%	32.89%
	New Democratic	R. Scott McKee	276	4.84%	-21.06%
Total			5,703	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2009

2009 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Scott	4,334	67.66%	-9.00%
	New Democratic	Don Tabor	1,659	25.90%	14.55%
	Liberal	Joey Archibald	325	5.07%	-5.34%
	Green	Daniel Melvin	88	1.37%	-0.01%
Total			6,406	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2006

2006 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Scott	5,087	76.66%	4.97%
	New Democratic	Andrew Kernohan	753	11.35%	0.44%
	Liberal	Mary Dee MacPherson	691	10.41%	-6.99%
	Green	James Dessart	92	1.39%	–
	Independent	David Raymond Amos	13	0.20%	–
Total			6,636	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

2003

2003 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Scott	4,898	71.69%	-2.32%
	Liberal	Harriet McCready	1,189	17.40%	4.01%
	New Democratic	R. Scott McKee	745	10.90%	-1.70%
Total			6,832	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1999

1999 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Scott	5,527	74.01%	15.32%
	Liberal	John Harrison	1,000	13.39%	-13.41%
	New Democratic	Scott MacKee	941	12.60%	-0.96%
Total			7,468	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (1999). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Fifth General Election (Report). Elections Nova Scotia.

1998

1998 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Murray Scott	4,714	58.69%	41.00%
	Liberal	Mike Uberoi	2,153	26.81%	-48.83%
	New Democratic	Sandy Graham	1,089	13.56%	8.70%
	Independent	James MacLeod	76	0.95%	–
Total			8,032	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

1993

1993 Nova Scotia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Guy Brown	6,713	75.63%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Mac Bennett	1,570	17.69%	–
	New Democratic	Douglas Meekins	431	4.86%	–
	Independent	Philip T. Donkin	162	1.83%	–
Total			8,876	–
Source(s) Source: Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca. Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (1993). Returns of the General Election for the House of Assembly, Thirty-Third General Election (PDF) (Report). Queen's Printer. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2018.

References

↑ Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.
↑ "Find Your Electoral District for the 41st Provincial General Election". enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca. Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
↑ Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2025). 42nd Provincial General Election, November 26, 2024: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
↑ Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2022). 41st Provincial General Election, August 17, 2021: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
↑ Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2022). 41st Provincial General Election, August 17, 2021: Volume 3 – Financial Information & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
↑ Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2017). 40th Provincial General Election, May 30, 2017: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
↑ Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2018). 40th Provincial General Election, May 30, 2017: Volume 3 – Financial Information & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
↑ Chief Electoral Officer (21 January 2019). "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of the Cumberland South By-Election" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia.

[1] Nova Scotia Legislature (2024). "Electoral History for Cumberland South" (PDF). nslegislature.ca.

[2] "Find Your Electoral District for the 41st Provincial General Election". enstools.electionsnovascotia.ca. Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 22 July 2021.

[3] Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2025). 42nd Provincial General Election, November 26, 2024: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.

[4] Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2022). 41st Provincial General Election, August 17, 2021: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.

[5] Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2022). 41st Provincial General Election, August 17, 2021: Volume 3 – Financial Information & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.

[6] Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2017). 40th Provincial General Election, May 30, 2017: Volume 1 – Statement of Votes & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.

[7] Nova Scotia, Chief Electoral Officer (2018). 40th Provincial General Election, May 30, 2017: Volume 3 – Financial Information & Statistics (PDF) (Report). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved 1 February 2026.

[8] Chief Electoral Officer (21 January 2019). "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Proceedings of the Cumberland South By-Election" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia.

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