Kelowna West

Kelowna West, formerly Westside-Kelowna, is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada established by the Electoral Districts Act, 2008. It was first contested in the ensuing election. The riding was created out of parts of Okanagan-Westside, Kelowna-Lake Country and Kelowna-Mission. It was renamed to Kelowna West in the 2015 electoral redistribution with only minor boundary changes.

Kelowna West

British Columbia electoral district
Provincial electoral district
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
MLA	Ben Stewart Liberal
District created	2008
First contested	2009
Last contested	2018
Demographics
Population (2006)	51,958
Electors (2013)	44,830
Area (km²)	1,139.78
Pop. density (per km²)	45.6
Census divisions	Regional District of Central Okanagan
Census subdivisions	Central Okanagan J, Kelowna, Tsinstikeptum 9, Tsinstikeptum 10, West Kelowna

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.[1]

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.[2]

Geography

The riding contains 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
	2013–2017		Christy Clark
Kelowna West
41st	2017		Christy Clark	Liberal
	2018–2019		Ben Stewart
	August–October 2019			Independent
	October 2019–present			Liberal

Electoral history

British Columbia provincial by-election, February 14, 2018
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	N/A	$6,419
	Libertarian	Kyle Michael Ernest Geronazzo	121	0.81	N/A	$250
Total valid votes			14,937
Total rejected ballots			35	0.23	-
Turnout			14,972	31.55
Eligible voters			47,461
	Liberal hold		Swing		-0.57
Source: Elections BC[3]

2017 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			26,584
Total rejected ballots			128	0.48	–
Turnout			26,712	55.46
	Liberal hold		Swing		+3.34
Source: Elections BC[4]

British Columbia provincial by-election, July 10, 2013: Westside-Kelowna
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Christy Clark	11,758	62.66	+4.58
	New Democratic	Carole Gordon	5,563	29.64	-1.20
	Conservative	Sean Upshaw	1,115	5.94	-5.14
	Independent	Dayleen Van Ryswyk	134	0.71
	Independent	John Marks	74	0.39
	Independent	Silverado Brooks Socrates	46	0.25
	Vision	JB Bhandari	45	0.24
	Independent	Korry Zepik	31	0.17
Total valid votes			18,766	99.84
Total rejected ballots			31	0.16	-0.80
Turnout			18,797	40.84	-6.68
Eligible voters			46,021
	Liberal hold		Swing		+2.89

2013 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			21,361	99.03
Total rejected ballots			209	0.97	+0.42
Turnout			21,570	47.52	+0.15
Eligible voters			45,389
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.55
Source: Elections BC[5]

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			19,379	99.45
Total rejected ballots			107	0.55
Turnout			19,486	47.35
Eligible voters			41,155

References

1. "Ben Stewart steps aside in Kelowna for B.C. Premier Christy Clark". Vancouver Sun, June 5, 2013.
2. http://elections.bc.ca/voting/klw-byelection
3. "Report of the Chief Electoral Officer: 2018 Kelowna West By-election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
4. "Statement of Votes – 41st Provincial General Election – May 9, 2017" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
5. "Statement of Votes - 40th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 17 May 2017.

• "Westside-Kelowna Statement of Votes: 39th Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved November 20, 2010.

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Preceded by Vancouver-Point Grey	Constituency represented by the Premier of British Columbia 2013–2017	Succeeded by Langford-Juan de Fuca