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1952 British Columbia general election

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1952 British Columbia general election
← 1949 June 12, 1952 1953 →
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
25 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
CCF
Leader W. A. C. Bennett[a] Harold Winch
Party Social Credit Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since 1952 1938
Leader's seat South Okanagan Vancouver East
Last election 0 7
Seats won 19 18
Seat change Increase19 Increase11
First count 209,049 236,562
  Percentage 27.20% 30.78%
  Swing Increase25.99pp Decrease4.32pp
Final count 203,932 231,756
  Percentage 30.18% 34.3%
  Third party Fourth party
 
PC
Leader Boss Johnson Herbert Anscomb
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since 1947 1946
Leader's seat New Westminster (lost re-election) Oak Bay (lost re-election)
Last election 39[1] 39[1]
Seats won 6 4
Seat change n/a[1] n/a[1]
First count 180,289 129,439
  Percentage 23.46% 16.84%
  Swing n/a[1] n/a[1]
Final count 170,674 65,285
  Percentage 25.26% 9.66%
Premier before election

Byron Ingemar Johnson
Coalition

Premier after election

W. A. C. Bennett
Social Credit

The 1952 British Columbia general election was the 23rd general election in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, alongside a plebiscite on daylight saving time and liquor. The election was called on April 10, 1952, and held on June 12, 1952. The new legislature met for the first time on February 3, 1953.

In 1951, the Legislative Assembly passed an act that allowed the use of preferential ballots in the next election.[2] The voting system used was instant-runoff voting (IRV). The presence of multi-member districts, such as Victoria City with 3 MLAs, was handled by an innovation where the district's candidates were split into three "ballots", each with no more than one candidate from each party, with the member in each being elected by IRV.[3]

Due to the preferential ballot, the election resulted in a surprise victory for the new Social Credit Party. Not even the Socreds had expected to win the election; the party had no official leader, and was nominally lead through the election by Ernest George Hansell, an Alberta MP who did not contest a seat himself. The newly elected caucus selected W. A. C. Bennett, a former Conservative MLA, to be their leader and premier-designate.

This began what would be 20 years of uninterrupted Social Credit rule in British Columbia. This would also be the last election to produce a minority government until the 2017 election.

Background

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The government until not long before the election had been a Liberal–Progressive Conservative coalition (the Conservatives had recently changed their name to match that of the federal party). After the coalition had collapsed, the Liberals felt threatened by the rising popularity of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. To lock out the CCF, the government adopted the alternative voting system instead of leaving the existing system in place or switching to the single transferable vote system. While they ran candidates separately under their own names, Liberal and Conservative party leaders believed that if Liberal voters picked the local Tory candidate as their second preference and vice versa, one of the candidates of the two parties would have enough votes to be elected in many districts, hopefully ensuring the coalition's retention of power.

Campaign

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However, the Liberal and PC leaders had not reckoned on being so unpopular with the province's voters. The combined Liberal and PC vote total was 120,000 fewer votes than in the previous election, while the Social Credit party received almost 200,000 more votes than in 1949. The combined Liberal and Conservative vote totals surpassed 50 percent in only eight seat contests, so even if the party voters had adhered to coalition discipline, the coalition did not have enough votes to be elected in most of the districts. They received only a comparative few votes through vote transfers from CCF and SC candidates, whose supporters aided each other where possible.[4]

In districts where CCF candidates were eliminated, back-up preferences were marked overwhelmingly for the British Columbia Social Credit League (BCSCL). Combined with many second-preference votes transferred from eliminated Liberal and Conservative candidates, this gave the Social Credit party five seats in addition to the 14 seats where its candidates had a plurality in the first counts. In the end, the Social Credit party captured 19 seats. The CCF received 18 seats, helped in many cases by transfers from eliminated SC candidates. The coalition was almost wiped out, winning only 10 seats between both parties. Both Premier Byron "Boss" Johnson and Tory leader Herbert Anscomb lost their seats.

Not even the Socreds had expected to win the election. The party had no official leader. Alberta Social Credit Member of Parliament Ernest George Hansell had led the party during the election campaign without contesting a seat himself. The Socreds persuaded Tom Uphill, a Labour member of the Legislature (MLA), to support the party, and so the Socreds were able to form a minority government. (Otherwise, having to provide the Speaker meant that the SC seat total would have been reduced to only the same as the CCF's seat count.)

Aftermath

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The party's next task was to choose the province's new premier. In a vote of the newly elected caucus, W. A. C. Bennett, a former Conservative MLA who joined the Socreds after losing a bid for the Tory leadership, won a caucus vote and became premier-designate on July 15, 1952. This began what would be 20 years of uninterrupted Social Credit rule in British Columbia. The party held power for 36 of the following 39 years. It would also be the last British Columbia election to produce a minority government until the 2017 election.

In hopes of getting a stronger mandate, Bennett deliberately lost a confidence vote in 1953. This forced an election in June 1953 in which Social Credit won a majority of the seats.

Results

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Elections to the 23rd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1952)[5]
Party Leader Candidates First-preference votes Seats
Votes ± % Fpv ± 1949 1952 ±
Co-operative Commonwealth Harold Winch 48 236,562 8,722Decrease 30.78 4.32Decrease 7
18 / 48
 11Increase
Social Credit League W. A. C. Bennett 47 209,049 194,723Increase 27.20 25.15Increase –
19 / 48
 19Increase
Liberal Boss Johnson 48 180,289 120,045Decrease 23.46 21.05Decrease 39
6 / 48
 29Decrease
Progressive Conservative Herbert Anscomb 47 129,439 16.84
4 / 48
Labour Tom Uphill 1 1,290 193Decrease 0.16 0.05Decrease 1
1 / 48
 Steady
Independent 6 1,312 3,851Decrease 0.17 0.57Decrease 1
0 / 48
 1Decrease
Christian Democratic 8 7,176 7,176Increase 0.93 New
Labor-Progressive 5 2,514 854Increase 0.33 0.09Increase
  Labour Representation Committee 1 654 654Increase 0.09 New
Socialist 1 276 276Increase 0.04 Returned
Total 212 768,561 100.00
Rejected ballots[6] 45,649 35,758Increase
Actual voters who voted[6] 543,456 65,457Increase 68.53% 5.11Decrease
Registered voters[6] 793,073 144,054Increase

MLAs elected

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Synopsis of results

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Results by riding – 1952 British Columbia general election (all districts)[5]
Riding First-preference votes Final counts Winning party
Name CCF SC Lib PC Lab Ind Oth Total # CCF SC Lib PC Lab 1949 1952
 
Alberni 3,067 1,366 2,176 1,204 – – 196 8,009 4th 4,054 – 3,030 – – Ind CCF
Atlin 595 – 292 164 – – – 1,051 Elected on 1st count CCF CCF
Burnaby 12,933 6,750 3,816 2,807 – – 662 26,968 3rd 13,416 7,780 4,919 – – CCF CCF
Cariboo 689 2,684 1,029 775 – – – 5,177 Elected on 1st count Coal SC
Chilliwack 2,242 8,509 2,543 2,097 – – – 15,391 Elected on 1st count Coal SC
Columbia 365 841 649 360 – – – 2,215 3rd – 1,174 860 – – Coal SC
Comox 5,369 2,987 3,532 1,868 – – – 13,756 3rd 7,098 – 5,210 – – Coal CCF
Cowichan-Newcastle 4,636 1,886 2,711 1,463 – – – 10,696 3rd 5,697 – 4,064 – – Coal CCF
Cranbrook 2,688 2,328 1,111 675 – – – 6,802 3rd 3,210 3,044 – – – CCF CCF
Delta 10,853 11,759 4,293 4,688 – – – 31,593 3rd 13,295 14,805 – – – Coal SC
Dewdney 6,024 7,600 3,631 2,233 – – – 19,488 3rd 7,248 9,813 – – – Coal SC
Esquimalt 3,607 1,606[b] 2,294 1,550 – – – 9,057 3rd 4,741 – 3,597 – – Coal CCF
Fernie 612 713 1,117 – 1,290 – – 3,732 3rd – – 1,329 – 1,758 Lab Lab
Fort George 1,593 2,009 2,022 371 – – – 5,995 3rd – 2,760 2,468 – – Coal SC
Grand Forks-Greenwood 826 292 252 706 – – – 2,076 3rd 1,043 – – 922 – CCF CCF
Kamloops 1,311 3,108 2,708 959 – – – 8,086 3rd – 4,002 3,366 – – Coal SC
Kaslo-Slocan 1,411 597 617 522 – – – 3,147 3rd 1,792 – 1,000 – – CCF CCF
Lillooet 1,074 450 725 1,301 – 96 – 3,646 4th 1,416 – – 1,847 – Coal PC
Mackenzie 4,230 1,795 3,752 1,285 – – – 11,062 3rd 5,373 – 4,669 – – Coal CCF
Nanaimo and the Islands 3,715 951 2,263 3,346 – – 207 10,482 4th 4,581 – – 5,144 – Coal PC
Nelson-Creston 2,473 2,975 2,572 774 – – – 8,794 3rd – 4,265 3,351 – – Coal SC
New Westminster 4,262 3,616 4,317 2,163 – – – 14,358 3rd 6,475 – 5,768 – – Coal CCF
North Okanagan 1,786 4,347 2,104 1,240 – – – 9,477 3rd – 5,447 3,063 – – Coal SC
North Vancouver 6,268 4,947 6,695 4,061 – 216 604 22,791 6th 8,980 – 10,292 – – Coal Lib
Oak Bay 707 1,071 3,631 2,843 – – – 8,252 3rd – – 4,308 3,282 – Coal Lib
Omineca 838 1,137 1,099 574 – – – 3,648 3rd – 1,607 1,437 – – Coal SC
Peace River 1,571 2,178 1,425 278 – – – 5,452 3rd 1,865 2,942 – – – Coal SC
Prince Rupert 2,292 1,104 2,001 687 – – – 6,084 3rd 2,903 – 2,754 – – Coal CCF
Revelstoke 942 598 636 555 – – – 2,731 3rd 1,320 – 1,015 – – Coal CCF
Rossland-Trail 2,541 3,979 3,331 1,690 – – – 11,541 3rd – 5,917 4,803 – – Coal SC
Saanich 5,862 2,947 4,964 3,407 – – – 17,181 3rd 7,867 – 7,599 – – Coal CCF
Salmon Arm 1,236 1,462 669 896 – – – 4,263 3rd 1,617 1,979 – – – Coal SC
Similkameen 3,433 3,344 2,545 1,401 – – – 10,723 3rd 4,668 4,712 – – – Coal SC
Skeena 1,048 501 1,500 586 – – – 3,635 3rd 1,318 – 1,865 – – Coal Lib
South Okanagan 2,654 6,082 1,763 1,371 – – – 11,870 Elected on 1st count Coal SC
Yale 659 1,024 1,067 338 – 60 – 3,148 4th – 1,390 1,311 – – Coal SC
Vancouver-Burrard (A) 10,037 9,166 6,166 5,765 – 577 1,064 32,775 5th 12,578 13,222 – – – Coal SC
Vancouver-Burrard (B) 10,397 9,002 6,358 5,615 – – 1,046 32,418 4th 12,920 13,166 – – – Coal SC
Vancouver Centre (A) 6,912 4,694 5,234 4,120 – – 1,321 22,281 5th 9,363 – 7,956 – – Coal CCF
Vancouver Centre (B) 7,350 4,497 5,394 3,951 – – 967 22,159 5th 9,893 – 8,496 – – Coal CCF
Vancouver East (A) 21,006 11,536 6,574 2,850 – – 2,304 44,270 4th 21,960 12,433 8,263 – – CCF CCF
Vancouver East (B) 23,051 11,202 5,286 3,045 – – 2,249 44,833 Elected on 1st count CCF CCF
Vancouver-Point Grey (A) 11,267 13,771 13,406 14,042 – – – 52,495 3rd – 20,645 – 22,549 – Coal PC
Vancouver-Point Grey (B) 11,366 12,882 12,828 14,886 – – – 51,962 3rd – 18,603 – 24,089 – Coal PC
Vancouver-Point Grey (C) 10,451 19,236 12,087 10,356 – – – 52,130 3rd – 25,749 18,078 – – Coal SC
Victoria City (A) 6,008 4,518 8,805 4,362 – 137 – 23,830 4th 8,421 – 12,071 – – Coal Lib
Victoria City (B) 6,329 4,365 7,842 4,608 – 226 – 23,370 4th 8,902 – 11,057 – – Coal Lib
Victoria City (C) 5,975 4,637 8,457 4,601 – – – 23,670 3rd 8,511 – 11,762 – – Coal Lib
  = Open seat
  = 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
  = Multiple candidates

Analysis

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Parties ranked by preference[7]
First preference Final count
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st 2nd 3rd
█ Co-operative Commonwealth 21 12 10 5 18 14 –
█ Social Credit 14 11 17 5 19 5 –
█ Liberal 9 22 14 3 6 22 2
█ Progressive Conservative 3 3 7 34 4 2 –
█ Labour 1 – – – 1 – –
Party candidates in 2nd place (first preference)[7]
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
Socred CCF Liberal PC
Social Credit – 5 9 – 14
Co-operative Commonwealth 7 – 12 2 21
Liberal 2 6 – 1 9
Progressive Conservative 2 1 – – 3
Labour – – 1 – 1
Total 11 12 22 3 48
Party candidates in 2nd place (final count)[7]
Party in 1st place Party in 2nd place Total
Socred CCF Liberal PC
Social Credit – 8 11 – 19
Co-operative Commonwealth 4 – 13 1 18
Liberal 5 – – 1 6
Progressive Conservative 2 2 – – 4
Labour – – 1 – 1
Total 11 10 25 2 48

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The nominal Socred leader, Ernest George Hansell, was an Alberta member of Parliament and was appointed to lead the British Columbia party during the election but did not contest a seat himself. Following the election, Bennett was elected as the leader of the Social Credit party by the newly-elected caucus and became Premier-elect on July 15, 1952.
  2. ^ William Chant was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f The Liberal and Conservative parties ran as a coalition in the 1949 election.
  2. ^ Provincial Elections Act Amendment Act, 1951, S.B.C. 1951, c. 25
  3. ^ Elections BC 1988, pp. 231–232.
  4. ^ "1871-1986 Electoral History of BC"
  5. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 213–219, 221–240.
  6. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
  7. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, pp. 221–240.

Further reading

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  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
  • Argyle, Ray (2004). Turning Points: The Campaigns that Changed Canada 2004 and Before. Toronto: White Knight Publications. ISBN 978-0-9734186-6-8.
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