1907 British Columbia general election

1907 British Columbia general election
← 1903 February 2, 1907 (1907-02-02) 1909 →
42 seats to the 11th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
23 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
LIB
SOC
Leader Sir Richard McBride James Alexander MacDonald No leader
Party Conservative Liberal Socialist
Leader since 1903 1903
Leader's seat Dewdney Rossland City
Seats before 22 17 2
Seats won 26 13 3
Seat change Increase4 Decrease4 Increase1
Popular vote 30,781 23,481 5,603
Percentage 48.70% 37.15% 8.87%
Swing Increase2.27pp Decrease0.63pp Increase0.91pp
Premier before election

Sir Richard McBride
Conservative

Premier

Sir Richard McBride
Conservative

The 1907 British Columbia general election was the eleventh general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election called on December 24, 1906, and held on February 2, 1907. The new legislature met for the first time on March 7, 1907.

The governing Conservative party won a second term in government, with almost half the popular vote, and a majority of the seats in the legislature, increasing its number of seats by 4 to 26.

The Liberal Party lost 4 seats in the legislature, despite winning about the same share of the popular vote that it had in the 1903 election.

The Socialist Party won one additional seat to bring its total to three.

Results

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1907)[1]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1903 1907 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Conservative Richard McBride 42 22 26 4Increase 30,781 2,868Increase 48.70% 2.27Increase
Liberal James Alexander MacDonald 40 17 13 4Decrease 23,481 766Increase 37.15% 0.63Decrease
Socialist 20 2 3 1Increase 5,603 816Increase 8.87% 0.91Increase
  Canadian Labour[a 1] 6 1 – 1Decrease 2,495 1,926Decrease 3.95% 3.41Decrease
Independent Labour[a] 2 – – – 487 487Increase 0.77% New
Independent Socialist 1 – – – 211 211Increase 0.33% New
Independent 1 – – – 147 147Increase 0.23% New
Total 112 42 42 63,205 100.00%
  1. ^ Comparison is with combined totals of local Labour candidates in 1903
Seats and popular vote by party[1]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Conservative
26 / 42
48.70%
 2.27 2.27
 
█ Liberal
13 / 42
37.15%
 -0.63
 
█ Socialist
3 / 42
8.87%
 0.91 0.91
 
█ Labour
0 / 42
3.95%
 -3.41
 
█ Other
0 / 42
1.33%
 0.86 0.86
 

Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected:[3]

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1907 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[4]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1903 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Con Lib Soc C-Lab Oth Total
 
Alberni Lib Lib 236 48.86% 32 6.62% 204 236 43 – – 483
Atlin[c] Con Con 78 62.90% 32 25.80% 78 46 – – – 124
Chilliwhack Lib Lib 331 51.64% 21 3.28% 310 331 – – – 641
Columbia Lib Con 254 56.57% 59 13.14% 254 195 – – – 449
Comox Con Con 372 56.02% 80 12.04% 372 292 – – – 664
Cowichan Lib Con 123 53.95% 18 7.90% 123 105 – – – 228
Cranbrook Lib Lib 473 44.54% 95 8.95% 378 473 – – 211 1,062
Delta Lib Lib 430 62.23% 169 24.46% 261 430 – – – 691
Dewdney Con Con 384 61.44% 143 22.88% 384 241 – – – 625
Esquimalt Con Lib 297 58.58% 87 17.16% 210 297 – – – 507
Fernie Con Con 350 49.93% 65 9.27% 350 66 285 – – 701
Grand Forks Con Soc 323 43.77% 68 9.22% 255 160 323 – – 738
Greenwood Lib Lib 217 37.22% 27 4.63% 190 217 176 – – 583
The Islands Lib Con 179 49.31% 6 1.65% 179 173 11 – – 363
Kamloops Con Con 534 54.88% 95 9.76% 534 439 – – – 973
Kaslo Con Con 233 55.21% 44 10.42% 233 189 – – – 422
Lillooet Con Lib 123 51.68% 8 3.36% 115 123 – – – 238
Nanaimo City Soc Soc 455 50.22% 165 18.21% 161 290 455 – – 906
Nelson City Con Lib 314 43.67% 5 0.69% 309 314 96 – – 719
Newcastle Soc Soc 259 46.67% 62 11.17% 99 197 259 – – 555
New Westminster City Con Con 675 49.31% 128 9.35% 675 547 – 147 – 1,369
Okanagan Con Con 893 54.85% 250 15.35% 893 643 92 – – 1,628
Revelstoke Con Con 440 54.79% 171 21.29% 440 269 94 – – 803
Richmond Con Con 417 48.04% 14 1.61% 417 403 48 – – 868
Rossland City Lib Lib 241 45.90% 55 10.47% 186 241 98 – – 525
Saanich Lib Con 275 51.69% 18 3.38% 275 257 – – – 532
Similkameen Con Con 298 56.55% 98 18.60% 298 200 29 – – 527
Skeena Con Lib 188 61.44% 70 22.88% 118 188 – – – 306
Slocan Lab Con 193 49.11% 74 18.83% 193 119 81 – – 393
Yale Lib Lib 289 58.27% 82 16.54% 207 289 – – – 496
Ymir Con Con 325 45.71% 86 12.10% 325 239 – – 147 711
  = open seat
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = Independent Labour candidate
Results by riding - 1907 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[4]
Party Cariboo Vancouver City Victoria City
Votes Share Change Votes Share Change Votes Share Change
Conservative 287 43.88% -1.78% 15,503 51.38% 2.81% 5,965 47.54% 6.01%
Liberal 367 56.12% 1.78% 10,956 36.31% 10.23% 4,474 35.66% -17.37%
Socialist – – – 3,032 10.05% 0.91% 443 3.53% -1.92%
  Canadian Labour – – – 682 2.26% -12.81% 1,666 13.28% 13.28%
Socialist Labour – – – – – -1.14% – – –
Total 654 100.00% 30,173 100.00% 12,548 100.00%
Seats won
  2
  5
  4
Incumbents returned 1 4 –
Seat change – –
  4Decrease

See also

Further reading

  • In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974).
  • Hopkins, J. Castell (1908). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1907. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.
  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.

Notes

  1. ^ Described as Liberal-Labour candidates by the Conservative press, and no Liberal candidates were nominated in their districts. They were repudiated by Canadian Labour's Victoria branch.[2]
  2. ^ McBride also won a seat in Victoria. He renounced Dewdney, and William J. Manson (Con) would win in the subsequent byelection.
  3. ^ Results are incomplete. Several polling places were unreported.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 91, 99.
  2. ^ Elections BC 1988, p. 104.
  3. ^ Elections BC 1988, pp. 101–103.
  4. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 96–99, 101–103.
  5. ^ Elections BC 1988, pp. 101, 104.