The St. Andrews electoral division was initially dominated by anglophone "old settlers", who had resided in the Red River territory before it was incorporated as a province.
Many of the old settlers were known as "mixed-bloods", referring to persons of British and aboriginal descent (the term was not considered offensive at the time).
John Norquay, a "mixed-blood" leader who served as Premier of Manitoba from 1878 to 1887, represented St. Andrews in the provincial legislature for many years.
Alfred Boyd, who is sometimes lists as Manitoba's first premier, also represented a St. Andrews constituency from 1870 to 1874.
The re-established constituency's first representative was James McLenaghen, who was a Progressive Conservative cabinet minister in a coalition government led by the Liberal-Progressives.