Photo: Azure /Mark Seymour · CC BY-SA 3.0Cumberland—Colchester, which takes in Amherst, is held by Alana Hirtle (Liberal Party of Canada)
In the census’s list of municipalities, Amherst is a town. Who leads Amherst’s council isn’t on an open record: there’s no open list of councils in Nova Scotia. No provincial riding is named for Amherst, as no open boundary file exists for the Nova Scotia House of Assembly that we could find. 11 of the 11 MPs from Nova Scotia belong to the Liberal Party of Canada.
Three governments, and who does what
Amherst, a town in Nova Scotia, shares the work with the province and Ottawa.
Local services, by-laws and property tax.
Schools, health care, highways, municipal law.
nslegislature.ca ↗Passports, pensions, EI, defence, immigration.
ourcommons.ca ↗Who to ask
Green: municipal. Gold: provincial. Grey: federal.
No county or regional government sits above Amherst’s council; Cumberland is only a census division, a unit for statistics.
From the council table to Ottawa
Every elected tier that speaks for Amherst, from the most recent elections.
- 1Amherst councilTown
- 2Nova Scotia House of Assembly–
- 3House of CommonsCumberland—Colchester
Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. MPs: Wikidata (CC0), 45th Parliament statements, read 7 November 2026; ridings: 2023 Representation Order, Statistics Canada
When Amherst votes
The last and next general elections at each level; a by-election can come in between.
| Election | Last | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Amherst council | 19 October 2024 | 21 October 2028 |
| Nova Scotia House of Assembly | 26 November 2024 | – |
| House of Commons | 28 April 2025 | – |
The council elected on 19 October 2024 serves until 21 October 2028, when Amherst council is chosen again. It is the third Saturday in October every four years, as the Municipal Elections Act provides. Parliament was last elected on 28 April 2025, and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly on 26 November 2024. No open copy of the 2025 counts exists, and Elections Canada’s own terms rule out commercial reuse, so 2021 is the last vote shown.
Election dates: the legislatures, MMAH and MAMH
The Nova Scotia House of Assembly: riding not placed
Provinces and territories run schools, health care and municipal law; each riding elects one MLA.
Find your MLA on the legislature’s site
nslegislature.ca ↗Legislatures: their own member pages
Alana Hirtle represents Cumberland—Colchester in Ottawa
Each riding elects one MP to the House of Commons; the general election of 28 April 2025 chose the 45th Parliament.
Cumberland—Colchester · Liberal Party of Canada
en.wikipedia.org ↗- Liberal Party of Canada11
As Wikidata records them.
The MP’s record
Elections Canada’s transposition of the 2021 vote onto today’s Cumberland—Colchester puts the Conservative Party of Canada first at 46%: Alana Hirtle won it away from them in 2025. Alana Hirtle is new to Parliament, first elected in the April 2025 vote.
MPs: Wikidata (CC0), 45th Parliament statements, read 7 November 2026; ridings: 2023 Representation Order, Statistics Canada · MPs’ records: Wikidata (CC0), positions held and party memberships, read 8 November 2026
Stephen Ellis (Conservative Party of Canada) took Cumberland—Colchester in 2021
Results in Cumberland—Colchester as drawn in 2013, the boundaries of the 2019 and 2021 elections; the riding was redrawn for 2025.
Turnout in Cumberland—Colchester was 60% in 2021, against 63% nationally. 37% had been enough for Lenore Zann (Liberal Party of Canada) to win it in 2019. 4,779 votes separated Stephen Ellis (Conservative Party of Canada) from Lenore Zann (Liberal Party of Canada) in Cumberland—Colchester in 2021, when the winner took 46%.
All 6 candidates in Cumberland—Colchester, 2021
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stephen Ellis | Conservative Party of Canada | 18,601 | 46.0% |
| Lenore Zann | Liberal Party of Canada | 13,822 | 34.2% |
| Daniel Osborne | New Democratic Party | 4,984 | 12.3% |
| Bill Archer | People's Party of Canada | 1,687 | 4.2% |
| Jillian Foster | Green Party of Canada | 1,045 | 2.6% |
| Jody O'Blenis | Independent | 278 | 0.7% |
Federal results: Elections Canada, 43rd and 44th general elections and the 44th’s transposition to the 2023 ridings, via open.canada.ca. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada
Having a say in how Amherst is run
Check or update the federal list.
elections.ca ↗Every MP lists an office.
ourcommons.ca ↗Ridings, registration and voting dates.
electionsnovascotia.ca ↗What this data can and can’t tell you
- Who holds each seat. A member who resigned or switched parties last week may still show here: the names are Wikidata’s.
- Which riding. Where residents of the 2021 Census live decides the riding; any riding with 5% of them or more is named.
- Election results. Where the page says “today’s boundaries”, it means Elections Canada’s estimate of the 2021 vote on the 2023 ridings; every other count is official and on the 2013 map.
- Not on this page. The open lists stop short of party labels, council budgets and band councils, so those are missing here.
Questions about how Amherst is run
Who is the MP for Amherst?
Cumberland—Colchester’s MP, Alana Hirtle of the Liberal Party of Canada, represents Amherst.
Which party won Amherst in the 2021 federal election?
The Conservative Party of Canada, with Stephen Ellis in Cumberland—Colchester; since 2025 Alana Hirtle represents Cumberland—Colchester.
Who is the MLA for Amherst?
Use the Nova Scotia House of Assembly’s own list: every MLA is there by riding, though Amherst isn’t placed in one here.
Who heads the council in Amherst?
The head of Amherst’s council isn’t named here; as a town, it publishes its council itself.
Sources: MPs: Wikidata (CC0), 45th Parliament statements, read 7 November 2026; ridings: 2023 Representation Order, Statistics Canada · Next municipal election: the province’s municipal election act · Municipality types: Statistics Canada census subdivisions · Federal results: Elections Canada, 43rd and 44th general elections and the 44th’s transposition to the 2023 ridings, via open.canada.ca. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada · MPs’ records: Wikidata (CC0), positions held and party memberships, read 8 November 2026. Under the Statistics Canada Open Licence.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).