Wikipedia

1966 British Columbia general election

The 1966 British Columbia general election was the 28th 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 August 5, 1966 and held on September 12, 1966. The new legislature met for the first time on January 24, 1967.

1966 British Columbia general election
← 1963 September 12, 1966 1969 →
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
28 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
BCLP
Leader W. A. C. Bennett Robert Strachan Ray Perrault
Party Social Credit New Democratic Liberal
Leader since 1952 1956 1959
Leader's seat South Okanagan Cowichan-Malahat North Vancouver-Capilano
Last election 33 seats, 40.83% 14 seats, 27.80% 5 seats, 19.98%
Seats won 33 16 6
Seat change Steady 0 Increase 2 Increase 1
Popular vote 342,751 252,753 152,155
Percentage 45.59% 33.62% 20.24%
Swing Increase 4.76pp Increase 5.82pp Increase 0.26pp
Premier before election

W. A. C. Bennett
Social Credit

Premier after election

W. A. C. Bennett
Social Credit

The conservative Social Credit Party was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a sixth term in government. It increased its share of the popular vote by close to five percentage points to over 45%, and winning the same number of seats (33) as in the previous election.

The opposition New Democratic Party also increased its share of the popular vote by over five percentage points, but won only two additional seats.

The Liberal Party won about 20% of the popular vote, and one additional seat, for a total of six.

The Progressive Conservative Party was virtually wiped out: it nominated only three candidates (down from 44 in the previous election), and its share of the popular vote fell from over 11% to a negligible amount.

1966 redistribution of ridings

edit

An Act was passed in 1966 providing for an increase of seats from 52 to 55, upon the next election.[1] The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridings
Renaming of districts
Reduction of multi-member district
Merger of districts
Reorganization of districts
Division of districts

Results

edit
Elections to the 28th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1966)[2]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1963 1966 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Social Credit W.A.C. Bennett 55 33 33   342,751 52,328  45.59 4.76 
New Democratic Bob Strachan 55 14 16 2  252,753 16,251  33.62 5.82 
Liberal Ray Perrault 53 5 6 1  152,155 41,208  20.24 0.26 
Progressive Conservative 3 – – – 1,409 107,681  0.18 11.09 
Communist 6 – – – 1,097 248  0.14 0.05 
Independent 6 – – – 1,711 1,421  0.23 0.20 
Total 178 52 55 751,876 100.00%
Rejected ballots[3] 7,056 924 
Actual voters who voted[3] 596,716 11,956  68.28% 1.43 
Registered voters[3] 873,927 787 
Seats and popular vote by party[2]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Social Credit
33 / 55
45.59%
 4.76 4.76
 
█ New Democratic
16 / 55
33.62%
 5.82 5.82
 
█ Liberal
6 / 55
20.24%
 0.26 0.26
 
█ Progressive Conservative
0 / 55
0.18%
 -11.09
 
█ Other
0 / 55
0.37%
 0.25 0.25
 

MLAs elected

edit

Synopsis of results

edit
Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[4]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1963 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		SC NDP Lib PC Comm Ind Total
 
Alberni NDP SC 6,039 55.55% 1,718 15.80% 6,039 4,321 511 – – – 10,871
Atlin NDP NDP 572 59.71% 311 32.47% 261 572 125 – – – 958
Boundary-Similkameen New SC 6,547 55.44% 2,878 24.37% 6,547 3,669 1,594 – – – 11,810
Burnaby-Edmonds New NDP 5,748 48.71% 1,118 9.48% 4,630 5,748 1,423 – – – 11,801
Burnaby North New NDP 6,984 49.72% 1,879 13.38% 5,105 6,984 1,957 – – – 14,046
Burnaby-Willingdon New NDP 6,153 44.47% 524 3.78% 5,629 6,153 2,053 – – – 13,835
Cariboo SC SC 3,830 54.10% 1,300 18.36% 3,830 2,530 719 – – – 7,079
Chilliwack SC SC 7,703 63.17% 4,622 37.91% 7,703 3,081 1,411 – – – 12,195
Columbia River SC SC 1,563 58.45% 929 34.74% 1,563 477 634 – – – 2,674
Comox SC SC 5,449 49.39% 1,140 10.34% 5,449 4,309 1,276 – – – 11,033
Coquitlam New NDP 9,517 55.20% 3,452 20.02% 6,065 9,517 1,658 – – – 17,240
Cowichan-Malahat New NDP 5,646 52.08% 1,234 11.38% 4,412 5,646 783 – – – 10,841
Delta New SC 7,768 46.46% 1,690 10.11% 7,768 6,078 1,954 921 – – 16,721
Dewdney NDP SC 6,507 53.42% 1,979 16.25% 6,507 4,528 1,146 – – – 12,181
Esquimalt SC SC 6,075 53.35% 2,630 23.10% 6,075 3,445 1,867 – – – 11,387
Fort George SC SC 6,282 60.42% 3,480 33.47% 6,282 2,802 1,313 – – – 10,397
Kamloops SC SC 5,753 52.35% 2,516 22.90% 5,753 3,237 2,000 – – – 10,990
Kootenay New NDP 3,605 40.98% 535 6.09% 3,070 3,605 2,123 – – – 8,798
Langley New SC 7,206 58.28% 3,307 26.75% 7,206 3,899 1,260 – – – 12,365
Mackenzie NDP SC 4,945 52.68% 1,359 14.47% 4,945 3,586 855 – – – 9,386
Nanaimo New NDP 5,625 47.99% 45 0.38% 5,580 5,625 516 – – – 11,721
Nelson-Creston SC SC 4,683 59.29% 2,359 29.87% 4,683 2,324 892 – – – 7,899
New Westminster NDP NDP 5,751 44.65% 199 1.54% 5,552 5,751 1,577 – – – 12,880
North Okanagan SC SC 3,841 48.59% 1,433 18.13% 3,841 1,535 2,408 – – 121 7,905
North Peace River SC SC 1,799 48.44% 1,216 32.74% 1,799 511 565 – – 839[a 1] 3,714
North Vancouver-Capilano New Lib 6,426 51.49% 2,450 19.63% 3,976 1,816 6,426 261 – – 12,479
North Vancouver-Seymour New Lib 5,301 39.61% 694 5.18% 4,607 3,137 5,301 227 110 – 13,382
Oak Bay Lib Lib 8,118 54.48% 2,310 15.51% 5,808 976 8,118 – – – 14,902
Omineca SC SC 2,337 70.16% 1,343 40.32% 2,337 994 – – – – 3,331
Prince Rupert SC SC 2,647 52.90% 834 16.67% 2,647 1,813 544 – – – 5,004
Revelstoke-Slocan New NDP 2,158 44.67% 138 2.86% 2,020 2,158 548 – – 105 4,831
Richmond New SC 6,521 43.33% 372 2.48% 6,521 6,149 2,381 – – – 15,051
Rossland-Trail SC SC 5,600 55.93% 3,147 31.43% 5,600 2,453 1,960 – – – 10,013
Saanich and the Islands New SC 7,237 50.05% 3,416 23.62% 7,237 3,821 3,401 – – – 14,459
Shuswap SC SC 3,995 54.07% 1,400 18.95% 3,995 2,595 760 – 39 – 7,389
Skeena SC SC 3,046 55.39% 1,304 23.71% 3,046 1,742 711 – – – 5,499
South Okanagan SC SC 8,747 73.15% 6,811 56.96% 8,747 1,936 1,274 – – – 11,957
South Peace River SC SC 2,585 59.78% 1,697 39.24% 2,585 851 888 – – – 4,324
Surrey New NDP 7,039 48.20% 785 5.38% 6,254 7,039 1,234 – 77 – 14,604
West Vancouver-Howe Sound New Lib 8,346 52.76% 2,847 18.00% 5,499 1,975 8,346 – – – 15,820
Yale-Lillooet New NDP 3,885 55.37% 754 10.74% 3,131 3,885 – – – – 7,016
  1. ^ Jacob Francis Huhn, previously elected as the Socred incumbent, received 583 votes.
  = 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 byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = multiple candidates
Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[4]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name MLAs 1963 1966 SC NDP Lib PC Comm Ind Total
Vancouver-Burrard 2
  2
  2
 7,584 9,849 3,190 – – – 40,386
7,584 9,498 2,681 – – –
Vancouver Centre 2
  2
  2
 8,157 7,257 4,147 – 253 144 38,570
7,938 6,871 3,803 – – –
Vancouver East 2
  2
  2
 8,644 12,502 1,637 – 377 – 45,521
8,593 12,185 1,583 – – –
Vancouver-Little Mountain 2 New
  2
 12,380[a 1] 8,620 4,681 – – – 50,040
11,566 8,523 4,270 – – –
Vancouver-Point Grey 2
  2
  1
  2
 11,494 2,934 17,400 – – – 57,472
9,284 2,853 13,507 – – –
Vancouver South 2 New
  2
 12,259[a 2] 9,067 5,698 – – 502 53,784
11,740[a 3] 8,843 5,675 – – –
Victoria City 2
  3
  2
 13,068 5,304 4,774 – 241 – 45,315
12,156 5,175 4,597 – – –
  1. ^ Leslie Peterson was previously MLA in Vancouver Centre
  2. ^ Ralph Raymond Loffmark was previously MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey.
  3. ^ Thomas Audley Bate was MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey during 1953-1963.
  = winning candidate

See also

edit

Further reading

edit
  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
  • Saywell, John, ed. (1967). Canadian Annual Review for 1966. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

References

edit
  1. ^ Constitution Act Amendment Act, 1966, S.B.C. 1966, c. 11
  2. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 285, 293.
  3. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, pp. 2–3.
  4. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 287–292, 295–299.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=1966_British_Columbia_general_election&oldid=1255173687"