Lisa Roberts (politician)

Lisa Roberts is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in a by-election on August 30, 2016.^[1] She represented the electoral district of Halifax Needham as a member of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party until 2021.^[1]

Lisa Roberts
Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Halifax Needham
In office August 30, 2016 – July 17, 2021
Preceded by	Maureen MacDonald
Succeeded by	Suzy Hansen
Personal details
Political party	NDP

She was re-elected in the 2017 provincial election.^[2]

Roberts announced in February 2021 that she would seek nomination as the NDP candidate for Halifax in the next federal election, but continue her role as MLA until either the next federal or provincial election, whichever came first.^[3] She represented the NDP in the 2021 federal election but finished second, behind Andy Fillmore of the Liberal Party.^[4] In November 2023, Roberts was again nominated as the NDP candidate for Halifax in the next federal election.^[5]

Before entering politics, Roberts had been executive director of Veith House, and a journalist with CBC Radio’s Information Morning in Halifax. She has been involved in several Halifax community initiatives, like the community garden on Needham Hill.

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Halifax
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Andy Fillmore	21,905	42.74	+0.27	$103,501.55
	New Democratic	Lisa Roberts	20,347	39.70	+9.66	$90,503.01
	Conservative	Cameron Ells	6,601	12.88	+1.30	$2,924.56
	Green	Jo-Ann Roberts	1,128	2.20	–12.17	$12,448.57
	People's	B. Alexander Hébert	1,069	2.09	+0.95	$3,500.64
	Communist	Katie Campbell	198	0.39	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			51,248	99.38		$108,761.04
Total rejected ballots			322	0.62	–0.02
Turnout			51,570	66.06	–6.96
Registered voters			78,065
	Liberal hold		Swing		–4.70
Source: Elections Canada[6]

Provincial

2017 Nova Scotia general election: Halifax Needham
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Lisa Roberts	3,880	51.36	+0.43
	Liberal	Melinda Daye	2,075	27.47	-6.13
	Progressive Conservative	Matthew Donahoe	1,135	15.02	+2.86
	Green	Andrew Jamieson	465	6.15	+2.94
Total valid votes			7,555	99.42	-0.16
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			44	0.58	+0.16
Turnout			7,599	46.16	+13.66
Eligible voters			16,558
	New Democratic hold		Swing

Nova Scotia provincial by-election, August 30, 2016: Halifax Needham Resignation of Maureen MacDonald
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Lisa Roberts	2,519	50.97	+6.98
	Liberal	Rod Wilson	1,662	33.63	-6.77
	Progressive Conservative	Andy Arsenault	600	12.14	+1.32
	Green	Thomas Trappenberg	161	3.26	-1.53
Total valid votes			4,942	99.58	+0.50
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			21	0.42	-0.50
Turnout			4,963	32.50	-17.93
Eligible voters			15,270
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+6.87