 Nova Scotia electoral district | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Provincial electoral district | |||
| Legislature | Nova Scotia House of Assembly | ||
| MLA |
Progressive Conservative | ||
| District created | 1993, 2019 | ||
| First contested | 1993 | ||
| Last contested | 2023 | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Population (2006) | 10,024 | ||
| Electors | 7,680 | ||
| Area (km²) | 164 | ||
| Pop. density (per km²) | 61.1 | ||
| Census division(s) | Halifax Regional Municipality | ||
Preston is a provincial electoral district in the Halifax Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has existed from 1993 to 2013 and since 2021 and elects one member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.
The electoral district includes the majority African Nova Scotian communities of North Preston and East Preston, plus the communities of Cherry Brook, Lake Loon, Lake Echo, Mineville, Montague Gold Mines, Westphal, and part of the Tam O'Shanter Ridge neighbourhood of Dartmouth.
The electoral district was created in 1993 and was conceived to provide representation to the area's rural Black community; roughly two-thirds of the population during the district's existence was African Nova Scotian.[citation needed] It was the first riding in all of Nova Scotia to feature an entirely African Nova Scotian slate of candidates in the 2021 provincial election.[1] The electoral district was abolished following the 2012 electoral boundary review when the provincial government wanted all of the province's ridings to have equal representation.[2] It was largely replaced by the new electoral district of Preston-Dartmouth. The riding was re-created following the 2019 boundary review, mostly out of Preston-Dartmouth, but also out of parts of Waverley-Fall River-Beaver Bank, Cole Harbour-Portland Valley, Eastern Shore and a small part of Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley. The riding was reinstated after a court challenge that also re-instated the province's three protected Acadians ridings.[3]