2017 British Columbia general election

2017 British Columbia general election
← 2013 May 9, 2017 (2017-05-09) 2020 →
87 seats in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
44 seats were needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout61.2%[1][2][3] Increase 5.9 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Christy Clark John Horgan Andrew Weaver
Party Liberal New Democratic Green
Leader since February 26, 2011 May 4, 2014 December 9, 2015
Leader's seat Kelowna West Langford-Juan de Fuca Oak Bay-Gordon Head
Last election 49 seats, 44.1% 34 seats, 39.7% 1 seat, 8.1%
Seats before 47 35 1
Seats won 43 41 3
Seat change Decrease 4 Increase 6 Increase 2
Popular vote 797,194 795,527 332,331
Percentage 40.37% 40.29% 16.83%
Swing Decrease 3.8 pp Increase 0.6 pp Increase 8.7 pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election

Christy Clark
Liberal

Premier after election

Christy Clark[n 1]
Liberal

The 2017 British Columbia general election was held on May 9, 2017, to elect 87 members (MLAs) to the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 41st Parliament of the Canadian province of British Columbia. In the 40th Parliament prior to this general election, the British Columbia Liberal Party formed the government under the leadership of Christy Clark, while the British Columbia New Democratic Party (NDP), under the leadership of Adrian Dix and then John Horgan, formed the Official Opposition; the Green Party of British Columbia were also represented in the legislature with sole MLA and later leader Andrew Weaver.

It was the first election contested on a new electoral map completed in 2015, and the total number of constituencies had increased from 85 to 87. New districts were added in Richmond and Surrey, while the boundaries of 48 existing electoral districts were adjusted.

The election saw no party win a majority of seats for the first time since the 1952 election: the Liberals won 43 seats, the NDP won 41 seats and the Greens won three seats. After a period of negotiations, the Green Party agreed to provide confidence and supply to an NDP government on May 29. In response, Clark indicated she would remain in office and seek the confidence of the legislature. On June 29, Clark's speech from the throne was voted down, and Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon invited Horgan to form a government. On July 18, Horgan became the new premier, while Weaver and the other Green MLAs did not join the Cabinet or take any official roles in the new government.

The election was notable in that it marked the end of the Liberal majority government that had led the province since the 2001 election, and the first election in Canada at the federal or provincial level that saw more than one member of a Green party elected.[5][6]

Redistribution of ridings

Main article: 2015 British Columbia electoral redistribution

An act was passed in 2015 providing for an increase of seats from 85 to 87, upon the next election.[7] The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridings
Renamings
Drawn from other ridings
Reorganization of ridings
  1. ^ Also taking in part of Comox Valley.
  2. ^ Parts went to Fraser-Nicola and West Vancouver-Sea to Sky.
  3. ^ Also taking in part of Juan de Fuca.
  4. ^ Also taking in part of Langley.
  5. ^ Also taking in part of Surrey-Whalley.
  6. ^ From parts of Surrey-Cloverdale and Surrey-Panorama.
  7. ^ Also taking in part of New Westminster.
  8. ^ Also taking in part of Richmond-Steveston.

Timing

Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the second Tuesday in May of the fourth calendar year after the last election.[8] As an election was held on May 14, 2013, the subsequent election was conducted on May 9, 2017. The same section, though, makes the fixed election date subject to the Lieutenant Governor's right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as he or she sees fit (in practice, on the advice of the Premier).[8]

The writ was dropped on April 11, 2017.[9] Advance voter registration ended April 11. Advance voting was from April 29 to 30, then began again May 3 and lasted until May 6 before the general election on May 9.[10]

Background

Main article: 40th Parliament of British Columbia

In the 2013 general election, the BC Liberal Party under the leadership of Premier Christy Clark were re-elected with a majority government. The British Columbia New Democratic Party, under the leadership of Adrian Dix, again formed the Official Opposition with a slightly reduced total of 34 seats. Despite the victory, Clark was defeated by NDP candidate David Eby in her riding of Vancouver-Point Grey but was later elected in the Westside-Kelowna riding by-election in July 2013 following Ben Stewart's resignation of his seat the previous month so that she could return to the Legislature.[11] The Green Party, under leader Jane Sterk, won its first seat in the legislature, though Sterk herself was not elected. Dix resigned as NDP leader following the election and was succeeded by Horgan in the NDP 2014 leadership election.[12] On August 13, 2013, Sterk announced she would resign as Green Party leader;[13] Adam Olsen was appointed interim leader on August 25, 2013.[14] The Conservative Party, under the leadership of John Cummins, failed to win a seat and Cummins resigned after the Westside-Kelowna by-election. On February 2, 2016, two by-elections occurred in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain to replace Jenny Kwan and Douglas Horne, who had both resigned to seek election in the 2015 Canadian federal election.

In preparation for the 2017 provincial election, the Electoral Boundaries Commission Amendment Act, 2014 increased the number of electoral districts from 85 to 87 and required that the number of electoral districts in the North, Cariboo-Thompson, and the Columbia-Kootenay regions not be decreased despite their lower populations since the last adjustment of electoral boundaries. The Electoral Districts Act was updated in November 2015 to establish the new electoral districts, adding one new electoral district in Surrey and one in Richmond. Additionally, the boundaries of 48 existing electoral districts were adjusted.[15]

The Election Amendment Act, 2015 required the chief electoral officer to provide each party with a copy of the voters list, allowed constituency associations to incur election expenses, limited vouching to amend voter information to only family members of the voter, and eliminated the 60-day pre-campaign period, including its expense limits.[16]

Election spending and fundraising

According to Elections BC, each candidate's campaign may spend a maximum of $77,674 over the 28 day election period and each political party, in addition, may spend $4,882,405. Also, each third party advertiser may spend up to $3,329 in a single electoral district and up to $166,445 overall.[17]

Unlike the Federal government or most provinces, British Columbia has no limits on political donations.[18][19] Wealthy individuals, corporations, unions and even foreigners are allowed to donate large amounts to political parties there.[20] On January 13, 2017, the New York Times published a story calling British Columbia the "Wild West" of Canadian political cash.[20] According to the New York Times, "critics of [Premier Clark] and her party, the conservative British Columbia Liberal Party, say the provincial government has been transformed into a lucrative business, dominated by special interests that trade donations for political favors, undermining Canada's reputation for functional, consensus-driven democracy."[20] The article also explored Premier Clark's practice of taking an additional salary from the BC Liberals, beyond her Premier salary, financed by political contributions.[20] The Globe and Mail also followed up with a special investigation of "British Columbia: The 'wild west' of fundraising".[18] The investigation found that lobbyists are giving tens of thousands of dollars in their own name – and some power brokers are breaking one of the few rules the province has in place.[18] With no limits on political donations in BC, the provincial Liberals raised $12.4 million last year – $4.5-million from individuals and $7.9-million from corporations.[18][21]

On March 5, 2017, Elections BC announced it was launching a probe into Liberal Party fundraising.[22] The Official Opposition, the NDP, has promised to ban corporate and union donation if elected, as well as limits on individual donations, but continues to accept corporate and union donations at the present time.[21] The Green Party announced in September 2016 that it would no longer accept donations from corporations or unions.[23]

In terms of election spending, British Columbia currently has no spending limits ahead of the election period. During the 2009 election period, there was a spending limit of $4.4 million.[24] Spending limits for the 2017 election period were adjusted for changes to the consumer price index before being confirmed during the second week in April 2017.[25][17]

Party Leader Expenditures[26] Notes
  British Columbia Liberal Party Christy Clark $13,596,359 The BC Liberals had formed a majority government since May 2001.
  British Columbia New Democratic Party John Horgan $7,908,697 The BC NDP had formed the official opposition since May 2005.
  Green Party of British Columbia Andrew Weaver $904,876
  British Columbia Conservative Party (Vacant) $39,043
  Christian Heritage Party of British Columbia Rod Taylor $23,133
  British Columbia Libertarian Party Clayton Welwood $9,913
  British Columbia Social Credit Party (Vacant) $5,940

Opinion polls

Opinion polling (2013–2017)
Polling firm Date of polling Source Lib NDP Grn Con Oth Type of poll Sample size
Forum Research May 8, 2017 [27] 39 41 17 3 IVR 1,076
Insights West May 8, 2017 [28] 41 41 17 2 Online 801
Justason Market Intelligence May 7, 2017 [29] 38 36 23 3 IVR/online 1,447
Mainstreet Research May 6, 2017 [30] 39 40 20 IVR 1,650
Ipsos Reid May 6, 2017 [31] 39 40 17 4 Online/telephone 1,404
Angus Reid May 3, 2017 [32] 40 41 15 4 Online 1,007
Justason Market Intelligence May 2, 2017 [33] 39 34 23 4 IVR/online 2,116
Mainstreet Research May 1, 2017 [34] 37 42 21 IVR 1,650
Innovative Research May 1, 2017 [35] 38 35 17 8 2 Online 500
Ipsos Reid April 30, 2017 [36] 43 41 14 3 Online 834
Innovative Research April 30, 2017 [35] 38 33 20 6 3 Telephone 600
Forum Research April 29, 2017 [37] 29 37 24 7 3 IVR 1,067
Justason Market Intelligence April 28, 2017 [38] 38 37 21 4 Online 1,127
Innovative Research April 23, 2017 [35] 42 32 16 9 1 Online 1,000
Mainstreet Research April 22, 2017 [39] 34 44 22 IVR 1,650
Justason Market Intelligence April 20, 2017 [40] 36 39 19 5 Online 1,128
Mainstreet Research April 14, 2017 [41] 37 39 21 3 IVR 1,650
Mainstreet Research April 10, 2017 [42] 35 39 19 7 IVR 5,506
Ipsos Reid April 9, 2017 [43] 39 44 12 4 1 Online/telephone 1,388
Forum Research April 8, 2017 [44] 29 39 18 12 3 IVR 1,040
Insights West April 8, 2017 [45] 38 40 17 3 2 Online 801
Mainstreet Research April 3, 2017 [46] 33 36 19 11 IVR 1,650
Mainstreet Research March 27, 2017 [47] 34 36 19 11 IVR 1,650
Mainstreet Research March 20, 2017 [48] 34 38 17 11 IVR 1,500
Mainstreet Research March 12, 2017 [49] 36 40 13 11 IVR 2,109
Mainstreet Research March 5, 2017 [50] 35 39 13 13 IVR 2,191
Forum Research March 1, 2017 [44] 32 36 15 14 3 IVR 1,056
Mainstreet Research February 26, 2017 [51] 33 38 15 13 IVR 2,352
Insights West February 26, 2017 [52] 40 41 11 5 3 Online 801
Forum Research February 23, 2017 [44] 28 39 14 15 3 IVR 1,061
Mainstreet Research February 19, 2017 [53] 37 37 17 10 IVR 2,188
Insights West November 21, 2016 [54] 39 40 14 5 2 Online 806
Mainstreet Research September 8, 2016 [55] 33 38 16 14 IVR 2,207
Innovative Research August 14, 2016 [56] 38 29 16 15 1 Telephone 600
Ipsos Reid May 9, 2016 [57] 42 36 10 11 1 Online 803
Insights West May 5, 2016 [58] 34 40 14 10 2 Online 801
Insights West November 14, 2015 [59] 34 39 16 7 4 Online 812
Insights West May 19, 2015 [60] 37 43 10 6 4 Online 801
Ipsos Reid May 12, 2015 [61] 41 44 8 7 2 Online 804
Insights West December 6, 2014 [62] 36 40 14 8 2 Online 805
McAllister Opinion Research July 29, 2014 [63] 36.0 36.3 17.5 9.1 1.0 Online 1,704
Insights West May 10, 2014 [64] 38 39 14 8 1 Online 824
Justason Market Intelligence January 19, 2014 [65] 37 35 19 7 1 Telephone/online 600
Insights West December 3, 2013 [66] 40 36 14 6 3 Online 866
2013 election May 14, 2013 [67] 44.14 39.71 8.13 4.76 3.25 Ballot 1,803,051

Endorsements

Green Party

Liberal Party

Retiring incumbents

Results

Elections to the 41st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (2017)[84]
Party Leader Candidates Votes Seats
# ± % Change (pp) 2013 2017 ±
Liberal Christy Clark 87 797,194 1,920Increase 40.37 -3.76
 
 49
43 / 87
 6Decrease
New Democratic John Horgan 87 795,527 79,672Increase 40.29 0.56 0.56
 
 34
41 / 87
 7Increase
Green Andrew Weaver 83 332,331 185,646Increase 16.83 8.69 8.69
 
 1
3 / 87
 2Increase
Independent 33 22,122 27,184Decrease 1.12 -1.62
 
 1
0 / 85
 1Decrease
Conservative 10 10,421 75,216Decrease 0.53 -4.22
 
Libertarian Clayton Welwood 30 7,743 5,693Increase 0.39 0.28
Christian Heritage Rod Taylor 5 3,398 2,570Increase 0.17 0.13
Your Political Party James Filippelli 10 1,137 609Increase 0.06 0.03
Social Credit 2 894 520Increase 0.05 0.02
Communist Timothy Gidora 6 798 409Increase 0.04 0.02
Vancouver Island Party Robin Richardson 4 641 641Increase 0.03 New
Land Air Water Mervyn Ritchie 1 580 580Increase 0.03 New
BC First Salvatore Vetro 1 543 732Decrease 0.03 -0.04%
Refederation 3 463 463Increase 0.02% Returned
New Republican Wei Chen 1 318 318Increase 0.02 New
Cascadia Troy Gibbons 2 248 248Increase 0.01 New
BC Action 2 205 205Increase 0.01 Returned
Citizens First Phillip Ryan 1 90 90Increase – New
4BC Erik Deutscher 1 59 59Increase – New
Total 369 1,974,712 100.00%

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Main article: Results of the 2017 British Columbia general election by riding
Results by riding - 2017 British Columbia general election[85]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1][86] 		Votes[a 2]
Name 2013 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Lib NDP Grn Con Ltn Ind Oth Total
 
Abbotsford-Mission Lib Lib 12,879 51.19% 5,540 22.02% 59.20% 12,879 7,339 4,297 – – – 644 25,159
Abbotsford South Lib Lib 11,683 52.48% 5,386 24.20% 54.71% 11,683 6,297 3,338 – – – 942 22,260
Abbotsford West Lib Lib 11,618 55.23% 5,144 24.45% 57.30% 11,618 6,474 2,280 – 149 – 516 21,037
Boundary-Similkameen Lib Lib 9,513 42.80% 2,238 10.07% 64.80% 9,513 7,275 2,274 – – 3,165 – 22,227
Burnaby-Deer Lake NDP NDP 8,747 47.89% 2,256 12.35% 53.00% 6,491 8,747 2,209 589 – 229 – 18,265
Burnaby-Edmonds NDP NDP 10,827 54.25% 4,423 22.16% 53.81% 6,404 10,827 2,728 – – – – 19,959
Burnaby-Lougheed NDP NDP 10,911 48.06% 2,520 11.10% 60.81% 8,391 10,911 3,127 – 129 145 – 22,703
Burnaby North Lib NDP 11,448 48.57% 2,158 9.16% 60.39% 9,290 11,448 2,831 – – – – 23,569
Cariboo-Chilcotin Lib Lib 8,517 58.77% 4,716 32.54% 60.79% 8,517 3,801 2,175 – – – – 14,493
Cariboo North Lib Lib 6,359 51.06% 1,929 15.49% 60.94% 6,359 4,430 919 747 – – – 12,455
Chilliwack Lib Lib 9,280 48.42% 3,073 16.03% 55.43% 9,280 6,207 3,277 – – 402 – 19,166
Chilliwack-Kent Lib Lib 11,841 52.75% 4,568 20.35% 59.55% 11,841 7,273 3,335 – – – – 22,449
Columbia River-Revelstoke NDP Lib 6,620 45.44% 1,372 9.42% 59.79% 6,620 5,248 1,708 – 154 840 – 14,570
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Lib Lib 10,388 44.28% 87 0.37% 57.46% 10,388 10,301 2,771 – – – – 23,460
Coquitlam-Maillardville NDP NDP 11,438 50.61% 2,919 12.92% 61.57% 8,519 11,438 2,467 – 175 – – 22,599
Courtenay-Comox Lib NDP 10,886 37.36% 189 0.65% 66.89% 10,697 10,886 5,351 2,201 – – – 29,135
Cowichan Valley NDP Grn 11,449 37.24% 1,726 5.61% 67.58% 8,502 9,723 11,449 – 302 766 – 30,742
Delta North Lib NDP 11,465 48.83% 2,146 9.14% 64.99% 9,319 11,465 2,697 – – – – 23,481
Delta South Ind Lib 11,123 44.10% 4,686 18.58% 71.79% 11,123 5,228 2,349 – – 6,437 88 25,225
Esquimalt-Metchosin NDP NDP 11,816 46.25% 4,761 18.64% 65.88% 7,055 11,816 6,339 – 171 102 65 25,548
Fraser-Nicola Lib Lib 6,597 41.79% 524 3.32% 64.04% 6,597 6,073 2,519 – – – 596 15,785
Kamloops-North Thompson Lib Lib 12,001 48.32% 4,463 17.97% 60.34% 12,001 7,538 5,111 – – – 187 24,837
Kamloops-South Thompson Lib Lib 15,465 55.78% 9,393 33.88% 64.60% 15,465 6,072 5,783 – 295 – 109 27,724
Kelowna-Lake Country Lib Lib 15,287 59.76% 9,943 38.87% 54.21% 15,287 5,344 4,951 – – – – 25,582
Kelowna-Mission Lib Lib 15,401 57.18% 9,681 35.94% 57.67% 15,401 5,720 3,836 1,976 – – – 26,933
Kelowna West Lib Lib 15,674 58.96% 8,962 33.71% 55.46% 15,674 6,712 3,628 – – 570 – 26,584
Kootenay East Lib Lib 9,666 56.57% 4,596 26.90% 55.71% 9,666 5,070 1,926 – 425 – – 17,087
Kootenay West NDP NDP 11,297 59.64% 6,680 35.26% 60.78% 4,617 11,297 3,029 – – – – 18,943
Langford-Juan de Fuca NDP NDP 13,224 52.75% 6,680 26.65% 62.11% 6,544 13,224 4,795 – 262 – 242 25,067
Langley Lib Lib 10,755 44.40% 2,371 9.79% 59.40% 10,755 8,384 3,699 1,221 166 – – 24,225
Langley East Lib Lib 16,348 53.45% 7,528 24.61% 64.54% 16,348 8,820 4,968 – 448 – – 30,584
Maple Ridge-Mission Lib NDP 10,989 41.94% 325 1.24% 61.69% 10,664 10,989 3,464 935 148 – – 26,200
Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Lib NDP 12,045 44.80% 1,617 6.01% 64.50% 10,428 12,045 3,329 676 – 408 – 26,886
Mid Island-Pacific Rim NDP NDP 12,556 49.05% 5,980 23.36% 63.22% 6,576 12,556 5,208 878 294 – 86 25,598
Nanaimo NDP NDP 12,746 46.54% 3,835 14.00% 62.30% 8,911 12,746 5,454 – 277 – – 27,388
Nanaimo-North Cowichan NDP NDP 12,276 46.89% 4,897 18.70% 63.73% 7,379[a 3] 12,276 6,252 – – 274 – 26,181
Nechako Lakes Lib Lib 5,307 54.39% 2,398 24.57% 59.06% 5,307 2,909 878 – 438 226 – 9,758
Nelson-Creston NDP NDP 7,685 42.19% 2,555 14.03% 64.20% 5,087 7,685 5,130 – – 313 – 18,215
New Westminster NDP NDP 14,377 51.93% 7,438 26.87% 63.61% 5,870 14,377 6,939 – 199 – 298 27,683
North Coast NDP NDP 5,242 57.30% 2,161 23.62% 61.16% 3,081 5,242 826 – – – – 9,149
North Island NDP NDP 12,355 47.72% 3,207 12.39% 62.49% 9,148 12,355 3,846 – – – 543 25,892
North Vancouver-Lonsdale Lib NDP 12,361 45.45% 1,988 7.31% 65.68% 10,373 12,361 4,148 – 316 – – 27,198
North Vancouver-Seymour Lib Lib 13,194 46.36% 3,386 11.90% 70.33% 13,194 9,808 5,208 – 247 – – 28,457
Oak Bay-Gordon Head Grn Grn 15,405 52.20% 8,397 28.45% 71.99% 7,008 6,972 15,405 – – – 125 29,510
Parksville-Qualicum Lib Lib 14,468 45.13% 5,279 16.47% 70.21% 14,468 9,189 8,157 – – – 245 32,059
Peace River North Lib Lib 9,707 66.28% 6,922 47.26% 56.74% 9,707 962 – – – 3,977 – 14,646
Peace River South Lib Lib 6,637 75.97% 4,538 51.95% 49.97% 6,637 2,099 – – – – – 8,736
Penticton Lib Lib 14,470 52.80% 6,596 24.07% 60.79% 14,470 7,874 5,061 – – – – 27,405
Port Coquitlam NDP NDP 14,079 55.79% 6,497 25.75% 62.44% 7,582 14,079 3,237 – 248 – 88 25,234
Port Moody-Coquitlam Lib NDP 11,754 47.69% 1,844 7.48% 65.31% 9,910 11,754 2,985 – – – – 24,649
Powell River-Sunshine Coast NDP NDP 13,646 50.70% 7,044 26.17% 69.60% 6,602 13,646 6,505 – – – 160 26,913
Prince George-Mackenzie Lib Lib 10,725 57.12% 4,783 25.47% 57.44% 10,725 5,942 2,109 – – – – 18,776
Prince George-Valemount Lib Lib 11,209 58.20% 5,515 28.64% 56.75% 11,209 5,694 2,356 – – – – 19,259
Richmond North Centre New Lib 7,916 52.48% 2,781 18.44% 48.06% 7,916 5,135 1,579 – – 336 117 15,083
Richmond-Queensborough New Lib 8,218 41.43% 134 0.68% 55.78% 8,218 8,084 2,524 694 – – 318 19,838
Richmond South Centre New Lib 6,914 48.72% 1,198 8.44% 46.70% 6,914 5,716 1,561 – – – – 14,191
Richmond-Steveston Lib Lib 10,332 47.60% 1,790 8.25% 62.77% 10,332 8,542 2,833 – – – – 21,707
Saanich North and the Islands NDP Grn 14,775 41.95% 4,011 11.39% 74.14% 9,321 10,764 14,775 – – 364 – 35,224
Saanich South NDP NDP 11,921 42.46% 3,205 11.42% 70.63% 8,716 11,921 7,129 – 177 – 130 28,073
Shuswap Lib Lib 14,829 55.80% 7,668 28.85% 62.80% 14,829 7,161 4,175 – 410 – – 26,575
Skeena NDP Lib 6,772 52.23% 1,159 8.94% 62.76% 6,772 5,613 – – – – 580 12,965
Stikine NDP NDP 4,748 52.10% 1,217 13.35% 65.61% 3,531 4,748 – – – – 834 9,113
Surrey-Cloverdale Lib Lib 11,948 47.67% 2,210 8.82% 61.84% 11,948 9,738 3,100 – 276 – – 25,062
Surrey-Fleetwood Lib NDP 11,085 53.58% 3,486 16.85% 59.52% 7,599 11,085 2,004 – – – – 20,688
Surrey-Green Timbers NDP NDP 8,945 58.29% 3,889 25.34% 54.61% 5,056 8,945 1,112 – – 163 69 15,345
Surrey-Guildford Lib NDP 9,263 49.85% 2,248 12.10% 55.76% 7,015 9,263 1,840 – – – 462 18,580
Surrey-Newton NDP NDP 9,744 57.31% 4,645 27.32% 58.14% 5,099 9,744 1,172 – – 988 – 17,003
Surrey-Panorama Lib NDP 12,227 50.85% 2,163 9.00% 61.04% 10,064 12,227 1,620 – – – 132 24,043
Surrey South New Lib 13,509 50.94% 4,791 18.07% 59.91% 13,509 8,718 3,141 – 311 774 67 26,520
Surrey-Whalley NDP NDP 10,315 58.62% 5,022 28.54% 51.55% 5,293 10,315 1,893 – – – 96 17,597
Surrey-White Rock Lib Lib 14,101 49.87% 5,453 19.29% 67.13% 14,101 8,648 4,574 – – 950 – 28,273
Vancouver-Fairview NDP NDP 16,035 54.12% 6,599 22.27% 65.79% 9,436 16,035 4,007 – – – 149 29,627
Vancouver-False Creek Lib Lib 10,370 42.16% 415 1.69% 55.68% 10,370 9,955 3,880 – 213 – 181 24,599
Vancouver-Fraserview Lib NDP 11,487 48.57% 1,502 6.35% 60.55% 9,985 11,487 1,826 – 179 – 174 23,651
Vancouver-Hastings NDP NDP 14,382 59.98% 9,230 38.49% 59.59% 5,152 14,382 4,238 – – – 206 23,978
Vancouver-Kensington NDP NDP 12,503 55.57% 5,267 23.41% 59.50% 7,236 12,503 2,580 – – – 181 22,500
Vancouver-Kingsway NDP NDP 12,031 60.62% 6,654 33.53% 53.35% 5,377 12,031 1,848 504 – – 85 19,845
Vancouver-Langara Lib Lib 10,047 47.46% 1,989 9.39% 56.44% 10,047 8,058 2,894 – – – 172 21,171
Vancouver-Mount Pleasant NDP NDP 15,962 65.33% 11,826 48.40% 57.62% 3,917 15,962 4,136 – – 212 207 24,434
Vancouver-Point Grey NDP NDP 14,195 55.94% 5,781 22.78% 63.63% 8,414 14,195 2,604 – – 85 77 25,375
Vancouver-Quilchena Lib Lib 12,464 55.96% 6,220 27.92% 62.39% 12,464 6,244 3,301 – 265 – – 22,274
Vancouver-West End NDP NDP 13,420 60.97% 8,356 37.96% 56.53% 5,064 13,420 3,059 – 352 116 – 22,011
Vernon-Monashee Lib Lib 13,625 47.87% 5,270 18.52% 58.96 % 13,625 8,355 6,139 – 341 – – 28,460
Victoria-Beacon Hill NDP NDP 16,057 53.05% 6,863 22.67% 64.20% 4,689 16,057 9,194 – 190 137 – 30,267
Victoria-Swan Lake NDP NDP 13,374 53.60% 5,961 23.89% 64.33% 3,960 13,374 7,413 – – – 203 24,950
West Vancouver-Capilano Lib Lib 13,596 57.15% 7,974 33.52% 62.56% 13,596 5,622 4,570 – – – – 23,788
West Vancouver-Sea to Sky Lib Lib 10,449 43.08% 3,502 14.44% 61.09% 10,449 6,532 6,947 – 186 143 – 24,257
  1. ^ Including spoilt ballots
  2. ^ Parties receiving more than 1% of the popular vote, or fielding candidates in at least half of the constituencies, are listed separately. Conservatives are also shown separately, as they had been a significant player in 2013, and Libertarians are noted due to the number of candidates fielded in this election.
  3. ^ Alana DeLong was previously a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
  = Open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = 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 by-election gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = Multiple candidates

Summary analysis

Party candidates in 2nd place[87]
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
Lib NDP Grn Ind
Liberal 40 1 2 43
New Democratic 36 5 41
Green 1 2 3
Total 37 42 6 2 87
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[87]
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
█ Liberal 43 37 7
█ New Democratic 41 42 4
█ Green 3 6 72 2
█ Independent 2 1 16 10
█ Christian Heritage 1 4
█ Land Air Water 1
█ Libertarian 21 8
█ Conservative 10
█ Your Political Party 3 5
█ Communist 3 2
█ Vancouver Island Party 2 2
█ Refederation 2
█ Social Credit 2
█ Cascadia 1 1
█ BC First 1
█ BC Action 2
█ 4BC 1
█ New Republican 1
Resulting composition of the 41st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Source Party
Lib NDP Grn Total
Seats retained Incumbents returned 29 26 1 56
Open seats held - new MLAs 5 4 9
Open seats held - taken by MLA previously incumbent in another riding 1 1
Byelection losses reversed 1 1
Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated 9 1 10
Open seats gained 3 2 1 6
New seats New MLAs 1 1
MLAs previously incumbent in another riding 3 3
Total 43 41 3 87

Aftermath

Main article: 2017 British Columbian government formation

On May 9, it was not immediately clear what form the government would take, as Elections BC does not count absentee ballots until two weeks after election day. This final count would determine the makeup of the legislature, since several seats were won with margins of a few hundred votes or less, and both the Liberals and NDP hoped to acquire enough seats to secure a majority.[88] No seats changed hands, however, after the counting of absentee ballots concluded on May 24, and the initial count of 43–41–3 was confirmed.[89]

As no single party won a majority of seats, the Green Party was approached by both the Liberals and the NDP to determine whether they would support a minority government or a coalition government headed by either party.[90] No grand coalition or agreement between the two large parties, excluding the Greens, was seriously considered. On May 29, Horgan and Weaver announced that the Greens would provide confidence and supply to an NDP minority government, a position which was endorsed the following day by the members of both caucuses.[91] In response, Clark indicated that she would have the legislature sit in the coming weeks and seek its confidence in a Liberal minority government, while acknowledging that she would likely be unsuccessful.[92] On June 12, Clark appointed a new cabinet that saw new MLAs join cabinet and existing ones take on different portfolios; Clark described the cabinet as being in "caretaker mode" and that it wouldn't pursue any new policies, but added "the team reflects the results of listening to what voters told us in the last election."[93] On June 22, the legislature convened with a throne speech that Clark said contained "the best ideas from all parties"; of the 48 pledges within, 30 were absent from the Liberal Party's election platform.[94] On June 29, the Liberals were defeated in a confidence vote; Clark then asked Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon to dissolve the legislature and call a new election. Guichon refused and instead invited Horgan to form an NDP minority government.[95][4][96] Horgan was sworn into office on July 18.[97]

Student vote results

Student votes are mock elections that run parallel to actual elections, in which students not of voting age participate. They are administered by Student Vote Canada. Student vote elections are for educational purposes and do not count towards the results.

Summary of the 2017 BC Student Vote[98][99]
Party Leader Seats Votes %
New Democratic John Horgan 60 65,205 38.98
Green Andrew Weaver 14 47,641 28.48
Liberal Christy Clark 12 42,651 25.5
  Independent 1 3,626 2.17
Others 0 8,156 4.79
Total 87 167,576 100.0

Footnotes

  1. ^ Following the election, Christy Clark's Liberal minority government was sworn in. On June 29, 2017, Clark's government was defeated in a confidence vote, prompting her resignation. Lieutenant Governor Judith Guichon then invited NDP leader John Horgan to form a minority government with Green support. Clark's resignation was effective July 18, 2017, at which time Horgan was sworn in as premier.[4]

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Further reading