The , registered under the Nova Scotia Elections Act as the "Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia", is a moderate right-of-centre political party in
Nova Scotia ,
Canada .
It originated from the
Confederation Party of
Charles Tupper . Tupper united members of the pre-
Confederation Conservative Party (who were predominantly
United Empire Loyalists and members of the business elite) and supporters of Sir
John A. Macdonald 's national Conservative coalition. The party supported Macdonald's protectionist
National Policy , nation-building, and the unification of
British North America .
Canadian Confederation was initially unpopular in
Nova Scotia , and the party was out of government for most of the late 19th century. It only formed government for a few of the years between 1867 and 1956.
The modern party was built by
Robert Stanfield after
World War II . Stanfield, the scion of a wealthy textile family, considered himself a
Socialist at university and, while he later moderated his views, he always remained a progressive. Under his leadership, what was by then the became a moderate
Red Tory party . Stanfield took over the party in 1946 when it had no seats in the
Legislative Assembly Of Nova Scotia , and by 1956, had built it into an organization that was able to sweep to power.
Stanfield left to become leader of the federal
Progressive Conservative Party in 1967, but the Tories have remained the dominant party in Nova Scotia since then. The party has formed the government for almost twice as many years as the
Liberals since 1956.
