The original St. James riding was established at the province's creation in 1870, and lasted until the election of 1879.

The modern St. James riding was created by redistribution in 1957 out of part of Assiniboia, and has formally existed since the provincial election of 1958.

It was won in that year by Liberal Paul Edwards, who was elected leader of his party in 1993.

In fact, the original plan of the Manitoba Electoral Boundaries Commission in 1999 was to rename St. James as Minto, and create a new riding called King Edward to its immediate west (primarily from the old riding of Sturgeon Creek).

Instead, the boundaries legislation passed by the Manitoba legislature in 1999 determined that the new riding would be called St. James.