Westminster was a provincial electoral district in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. It appeared in the 1890 election only. In 1894 it was succeeded by

Westminster-Chilliwhack Westminster-Chilliwack was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1894 to 1898. It and its sister ridings Westminster-Delta, Westminster-Dewdney and Westminster-Richmond were successors to the old four-me ...

Westminster-Delta Westminster-Delta was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1894 to 1898. It and its sister ridings Westminster-Chilliwhack, Westminster-Dewdney and Westminster-Richmond were successors to the four-membe ...

Westminster-Dewdney Westminster-Dewdney was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1894 to 1898. It and its sister ridings Westminster-Delta, Westminster-Chilliwhack and Westminster-Richmond were successors to the old four ...

, and Westminster-Richmond, which were in the 1898 election succeeded by ridings named similarly, but without the "Westminster". Note that this provincial riding should not be confused with the federal Westminster District riding which appeared only in the 1917 election, and which was succeeded by the

Fraser Valley The Fraser Valley is a geographical region in southwestern British Columbia, Canada and northwestern Washington State. It starts just west of Hope in a narrow valley encompassing the Fraser River and ends at the Pacific Ocean stretching from the ...

riding.

Political geography and history

In the early 1880s the Lower Fraser Valley south and east of the city of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

was largely unpopulated, with voters there voting in one of the two New Westminster ridings (

New Westminster City New Westminster City was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia from 1871 to 1912. For other electoral districts in New Westminster, please see New Westminster (electoral districts). Demographics Politica ...

). With the opening of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

settlement of the lush Fraser Valley lands was rapid, and a new more rural riding - Westminster - was created spanning the entire lower Fraser from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

. Increasing growth led to the riding's further subdivision for the 1894 election into four sub-ridings,

and Westminster-Richmond. The successor ridings dropped the Westminster-prefix for the 1903 election. The name Westminster in the riding's name derives not so much from these areas being dependent on the city of New Westminster, but because it and all its successor ridings are all in the

New Westminster Land District The New Westminster Land District is one of 59 land districts of British Columbia, Canada, which are the underlying cadastral divisions of that province, created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via the ''Lands Act'' of the Colony ...

(beyond

is the

Yale Land District Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

Electoral history

''Note: winners in each election are highlighted'' bold. , Independent , Arthur Herring , align="right", 81 , align="right", 2.83% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , Independent , James Punch , align="right", 484 , align="right", 16.89% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , Independent , Colin Buchanan Sword , align="right", 461 , align="right", 16.08% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 2,866 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", % !align="right", !align="right", ¹ Incumbent Premier of BC Former provincial electoral districts of British Columbia New Westminster {{gvrd-stub