Beauce (Quebec) 20/338

 Beauce (Quebec)

Today we're back in Eastern Quebec with Beauce!

Beauce as a riding has existed since 1867, with the same name and fairly similar boundaries. It contains the Beauce region of Quebec, and is located Southeast of Quebec City. The population centers are Saint-Georges (31,173 in 2011), Sainte-Marie (13,565 in 2016), and Beauceville (6,354 in 2011). While there are population centers, a good portion of the riding is rural.

Politically, the riding has trended right in the past years. The last time the Liberals won the riding was in 2004 with 41%, just a 5 point margin over the Conservatives, who took the riding from the Liberals in 2006. One thing I find interesting is that the second place party has changed in the past 4 elections, going as follows: Bloc Quebecois, New Democratic Party, Liberal, People's Party. The riding is currently held by Conservative MP Richard Lehoux.

The riding had been represented by Gilles Bernier from 1984-1997, and later by his son, Maxime Bernier, from 2006-2019. Maxime Bernier, as you may know, is the leader of the People's Party of Canada, a new party as of 2018. The party, while not gaining any seats, had a sizable presence in the 2019 election, getting almost 300,000 votes. Bernier performed the best, getting 28.37% of the vote in his riding of Beauce. In 2019, the riding was 25/78 in Quebec and 99/338 in Canada by margin.

Rating:

Name: 8.6/10 - I really appreciate ridings that are named after regions rather than naming it after the largest municipality, even if it does have less than a third of the population.

Shape: 5.2/10 - The Southeast is not a factor, as it borders the US, but the rest could be cleaner, I wish it was less jagged.

Individuality: 6.4/10 - I do like ridings that are elastic, even if the party in power doesn't change that much. 

Total: 20.2/30 (67.3%)

See you tomorrow with (deep breath) Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d'Orléans—Charlevoix.