1949 British Columbia general election

1949 British Columbia general election
← 1945 June 15, 1949 1952 →
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
25 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
CCF
Leader Boss Johnson (Liberal leader) Harold Winch
Party Liberal-Conservative Coalition Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since 1947 1938
Leader's seat New Westminster Vancouver East
Last election 37 10
Seats won 39 7
Seat change Increase2 Decrease3
Popular vote 428,773 245,284
Percentage 61.35% 35.10%
Swing Increase5.52pp Decrease2.52pp
Premier before election

Boss Johnson
Coalition

Premier after election

Boss Johnson
Coalition

The 1949 British Columbia general election was the 22nd general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 16, 1949, and held on June 15, 1949. The new legislature met for the first time on February 14, 1950.

The centre-right coalition formed by the Liberal and Conservative parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1945 election increased its share of the vote and its majority in the legislature.

Three different social credit groupings nominated or endorsed candidates in the election: the Social Credit Party, the Social Credit League, and the Union of Electors.

Results

Elections to the 22nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1949)[1]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1945 1949 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Coalition
  Boss Johnson
  Herbert Anscomb
 48 37 39 2 428,773 167,626 61.35 5.52
Co-operative Commonwealth Harold Winch 48 10 7 3Decrease 245,284 69,324 35.10 2.52Decrease
Labour 1 1 1 Steady 1,483 88 0.21 0.09Decrease
Independent 7 – 1 1 5,163 3,631 0.74 0.41
  Social Credit alliance split[a 1]
█ Social Credit League 9 – – – 7,112   1.02  
█ Social Credit 7 – – – 4,424 0.63
█ Union of Electors 12 – – – 2,790 0.40
Social Credit total 14,326 7,699Increase 2.05 0.63Increase
Labor-Progressive 2 – – – 1,660 14,819 0.24 3.28Decrease
Independent Conservative 1 – – – 1,241 1,241 0.18 New
People's CCF 1 – – – 470 2,316 0.07 0.53Decrease
Socialist Labour 1 – – – 286 1 0.04 0.02Decrease
People's Party of BC 1 – – – 137 137 0.02 New
Total 138 48 48 698,823 100.00%
Rejected ballots[2] 9,891 5,992Increase
Actual voters who voted[2] 477,999 179,612Increase 73.64% 10.98Increase
Registered voters[2] 649,019 172,797Increase
  1. ^ Elections BC summary table tabulation errors corrected for SCP and SCL
Seats and popular vote by party[1]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Coalition
39 / 48
61.35%
 5.52 5.52
 
█ Co-operative Commonwealth
7 / 48
35.10%
 -2.52
 
█ Social Credit
0 / 48
2.05%
 0.63 0.63
 
█ Labor-Progressive
0 / 48
0.24%
 -3.28
 
█ Other
2 / 48
1.26%
 -0.35
 

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1949 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[3]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1945 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Coal CCF SCP SCL UoE Ind Oth Total
 
Alberni Coal Ind 3,290 42.84% 1,161 15.12% 1,638 2,129 – – – 3,290 622 7,679
Atlin Coal CCF 376 50.40% 6 0.80% 370 376 – – – – – 746
Burnaby CCF CCF 11,025 50.90% 1,044 4.82% 9,981 11,025 – 655 – – – 21,661
Cariboo Coal Coal 2,653 66.88% 1,339 33.76% 2,653 1,314 – – – – – 3,967
Chilliwack Coal Coal 6,847 57.17% 4,135 34.52% 6,847 2,712 – 2,417 – – – 11,976
Columbia Coal Coal 1,288 68.91% 707 37.82% 1,288 581 – – – – – 1,869
Comox Coal Coal 7,596 59.19% 2,358 18.38% 7,596 5,238 – – – – – 12,834
Cowichan-Newcastle CCF Coal 5,505 56.19% 1,311 13.38% 5,505 4,194 – – 38 60 – 9,797
Cranbrook Coal CCF 3,026 50.53% 63 1.06% 2,963 3,026 – – – – – 5,989
Delta Coal Coal 12,203 49.59% 1,093 4.44% 12,203 11,110 1,293 – – – – 24,606
Dewdney Coal Coal 8,127 49.08% 523 3.16% 8,127 7,604 – 829 – – – 16,560
Esquimalt Coal Coal 4,219 51.26% 1,731 21.03% 4,219 2,488 – – 92 191 1,241 8,231
Fernie Lab Lab 1,483 39.09% 9 0.24% 1,474 837 – – – – 1,483 3,794
Fort George CCF Coal 3,232 59.86% 1,065 19.72% 3,232 2,167 – – – – – 5,399
Grand Forks-Greenwood Coal CCF 922 44.14% 49 2.35% 873 922 – – – 294 – 2,089
Kamloops Coal Coal 4,992 64.47% 2,241 28.94% 4,992 2,751 – – – – – 7,743
Kaslo-Slocan CCF CCF 1,633 53.19% 196 6.38% 1,437 1,633 – – – – – 3,070
Lillooet Coal Coal 2,339 62.83% 1,159 31.14% 2,339 1,180 – – – 204 – 3,723
Mackenzie CCF Coal 5,787 55.57% 1,161 11.14% 5,787 4,626 – – – – – 10,413
Nanaimo and the Islands Coal Coal 5,860 61.50% 2,296 24.09% 5,860 3,564 – – 104 – – 9,528
Nelson-Creston Coal Coal 4,783 60.04% 2,108 26.46% 4,783 2,675 – 508 – – – 7,966
New Westminster Coal Coal 7,969 61.57% 3,460 26.73% 7,969 4,509 328 – – – 137 12,943
North Okanagan Coal Coal 4,966 60.95% 2,309 28.34% 4,966 2,657 525 – – – – 8,148
North Vancouver Coal Coal 12,586 69.57% 7,082 39.14% 12,586 5,504 – – – – – 18,090
Oak Bay Coal Coal 5,918 84.21% 5,028 71.55% 5,918 890 – – 220 – – 7,028
Omineca CCF Coal 1,885 61.60% 710 23.20% 1,885 1,175 – – – – – 3,060
Peace River CCF Coal 2,342 49.69% 441 9.35% 2,342 1,901 – – – – 470 4,713
Prince Rupert CCF Coal 2,971 56.41% 675 12.82% 2,971 2,296 – – – – – 5,267
Revelstoke Coal Coal 1,311 50.95% 49 1.90% 1,311 1,262 – – – – – 2,573
Rossland-Trail Coal Coal 5,910 56.30% 1,322 12.60% 5,910 4,588 – – – – – 10,498
Saanich Coal Coal 9,998 66.14% 5,352 35.41% 9,998 4,646 – – 473 – – 15,117
Salmon Arm Coal Coal 2,529 60.07% 848 20.14% 2,529 1,681 – – – – – 4,210
Similkameen Coal Coal 5,744 58.78% 1,716 17.56% 5,744 4,028 – – – – – 9,772
Skeena Coal Coal 2,048 73.20% 1,298 46.40% 2,048 750 – – – – – 2,798
South Okanagan Coal Coal 6,555 58.40% 1,886 16.80% 6,555[a 1] 4,669 – – – – – 11,224
Yale Coal Coal 1,407 46.90% 542 18.07% 1,407 865 – – – 728 – 3,000
  1. ^ W. A. C. Bennett had resigned in 1948 to contest the federal byelection in Yale, which he lost. In the interim, Bob Browne-Clayton was elected for the Coalition in the provincial byelection, but Bennett returned for the general election.
  = open seat
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = part of 1945 Social Credit alliance
  = multiple candidates
Results by riding - 1949 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[3]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name MLAs 1945 1949 Coal CCF SCP SCL UoE Ind Oth Total
Vancouver-Burrard 2
  2
  2
 40,156 21,774 1,258 – 95 396 – 63,679
Vancouver Centre 2
  2
  2
 29,171 17,969 – 814 – – 286 48,240
Vancouver East 2
  2
  2
 34,077 39,815 1,020 – 109 – 1,038 76,059
Vancouver-Point Grey 3
  3
  3
 109,782 35,134 – 1,889 280 – – 147,085
Victoria City 3
  3
  3
 47,281 17,019 – – 1,379 – – 65,679

See also

Further reading

  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.

References

  1. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 203, 213.
  2. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
  3. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 205–209, 215–219.