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Federal politics
Since Shaunavon was founded in 1913, the town and surrounding area have been represented by several different political parties and leaders. The town became a part of the new Maple Creek electoral district, established in 1914. In the 1917 federal election, Unionist party member and Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association organizer John Archibald Maharg ran unopposed, becoming the first Member of Parliament for the area.

The next election in 1921 saw Progressive candidate and Gull Lake resident Neil Haman McTaggart win the district, and Liberal George Spence won in 1925. Spence would resign the next year, replaced with fellow Liberal William George Bock.

Shaunavon had its first major political triumph in the 1930 election, when Shaunavon resident Dr. James Beck Swanston beat Bock and won the seat for the Conservatives. Swanston had run previously with the Conservatives, coming second in the two previous federal elections. In addition to defeating Bock, Swanston also defeated another Shaunavon native: the Farmer Party candidate, Annie Hollis. One of Canada’s earliest female politicians, Hollis was the president of the Saskatchewan Grain Growers' Association; the same organization John Archibald Maharg ran when he was elected. She later became the leader of the United Farmers of Canada.

Swanston’s time in federal office ended in 1935, when Liberal candidate Charles Evans won the election. Swanston finished third in a race that was closely fought between four candidates. From 1935 until the ridings’ redistribution in 1952, the Maple Creek riding was in the hands of left-wing parties. The Liberals held the seat the entire time, except from 1945 to 1949, when Co-operative Commonwealth Federation candidate Duncan John McCuaig won.

After 1953, Shaunavon became a part of the Swift Current—Maple Creek federal riding. The previous trend of voting for left-wing candidates changed in 1958, with the election of Jack McIntosh, who ran as a Progressive Conservative. McIntosh would represent the region until 1972, when fellow Progressive Conservative Frank Fletcher Hamilton was elected. Between 1958 and 1984, the Swift Current–Maple Creek seat in the House of Commons was property of the Progressive Conservatives.

Swift Current–Maple Creek constituency combined with the Assiniboia constituency in 1987. Not long after, in 1993, Lee Morrison, a Reform candidate, broke the Progressive Conservatives' hold on the riding. Morrison was elected again in 1997, when Shaunavon was represented by the newly-formed Cypress Hills-Grasslands riding. The Canadian Alliance party and candidate David Anderson won handily in the 2000 federal election. Anderson, who became a part of the Conservatives in 2004, has represented Shaunavon federally ever since.

Since Dr. Swanston's loss in 1935, the Member of Parliament representing Shaunavon has never been a native of the town: Figures like Morrison and Anderson, while representing the town federally, have came from other towns nearby (Morrison and Anderson come from Vidora and Frontier, respectively.)

Provincial politics
Provincially, Shaunavon was part of the Gull Lake constituency from the town's beginning in 1913 to 1917. They were led by Liberal party member Daniel Cameron Lochead. In 1917, Shaunavon became part of Saskatchewan's Cypress constituency, and elected Liberal leaders in three straight elections. Henry Halvorson won two of those elections, including the 1921 provincial election, in which he ran unopposed.

Shaunavon had its own electoral district between 1934 and 1938, and elected Farmer-Labour candidate Clarence Stork. The Shaunavon district was abolished in 1938, and Shaunavon was made a part of the nearby Gull Lake constituency. The first leader of the new Gull Lake district was Liberal Harvey Harold McMahon, and he was replaced by CCF candidate Al Murray after the 1944 provincial election. The CCF would control the district until it was rezoned and renamed in 1952.

Before 1952's provincial election, Shaunavon became the main headquarters for the Gull Lake constituency. The district was renamed after Shaunavon. In the new Shaunavon district, left-wing parties continued to rise, with the Liberals, CCF and, later, the New Democrats trading power over the area. In 1978, Shaunavon native Dwain Lingenfelter was elected to represent the area in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. Lingenfelter would go on to have a long political career, later seeing him become the head of Saskatchewan's NDP and a key member of Premier Roy Romanow's provincial cabinet.

1986's provincial election saw the streak of left-wing parties snapped by the Progressive Conservatives' Ted Gleim. The NDP won the seat back in 1991, as another Shaunavon local, Glen McPherson, was elected.

In 1995, Shaunavon district was dissolved and redistributed into Wood River constituency and Cypress Hills constituency. McPherson, then the sitting MLA, changed parties from the NDP to the Liberals, and ran in Wood River. He won two elections in Wood River, and tied Saskatchewan Party opponent Yogi Huyghebaert in 1999. After a returning officer cast a deciding vote in favour of McPherson to break the tie, the result was thrown out and a by-election was called. McPherson chose not to run, and Huyghebaert was elected to legislative assembly.

Shaunavon has been a part of the Cypress Hills constituency since 1995. The left-wing slant of the area, like most of Saskatchewan’s provincial politics, has seen a shift to the right. The election of the PCs’ Jack Goohsen in 1995 marked a new political beginning for the region. Goohsen resigned his seat in 1999 after being found guilty of soliciting sex from an underage prostitute.

Cypress Hills is now represented in provincial legislature by Wayne Elhard, who won for the Saskatchewan Party in 1999 and is still the area's MLA.