The electoral district was created in 1987 from parts of the
Bow River,
Calgary West,
Calgary East,
Calgary South, and a small piece of
Calgary Centre ridings. The riding was abolished during the
Canadian federal electoral redistribution, 2012, 80% into
Calgary Heritage and 20% into
Calgary Midnapore.
Historical boundaries Members of Parliament This
riding has elected the following members of the
House of Commons of Canada:
Members of Parliament All three of the riding's
MPs were prominent:
Bobbie Sparrow served in the cabinet led by
Kim Campbell, while
Preston Manning was the leader of the
Reform Party of Canada from 1987 and
Leader of the Opposition from 1997 to 2000. Its final MP in the Southwest configuration was
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, an economist and a lecturer outside politics. He was elected to Calgary Southwest, shortly after becoming leader of the
Canadian Alliance and thus leader of the Opposition, in a 2002 by-election occasioned by Manning's retirement. From 2003, Harper was the leader of the re-formed
Conservative Party of Canada, and from 2006, prime minister; he ceased to be both after the
2015 Canadian federal election. ==Election results==