1949 British Columbia general election
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.
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48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
| Political party | Party leader | MLAs | Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | 1945 | 1949 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) | |||
| Coalition | Herbert Anscomb |
48 | 37 | 39 | 2 | 428,773 | 167,626 | 61.35 | 5.52 | |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Harold Winch | 48 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 245,284 | 69,324 | 35.10 | 2.52 | |
| Labour | 1 | 1 | 1 |  | 1,483 | 88 | 0.21 | 0.09 | ||
| 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 | 7,699 | 2.05 | 0.63 | ||||||
| Labour Progressive | 2 | – | – | – | 1,660 | 14,819 | 0.24 | 3.28 | ||
| Independent Conservative | 1 | – | – | – | 1,241 | 1,241 | 0.18 | New | ||
| People's CCF | 1 | – | – | – | 470 | 2,316 | 0.07 | 0.53 | ||
| Socialist Labour | 1 | – | – | – | 286 | 1 | 0.04 | 0.02 | ||
| People's Party of BC | 1 | – | – | – | 137 | 137 | 0.02 | New | ||
| Total | 138 | 48 | 48 | 698,823 | 100.00% | |||||
| Rejected ballots[2] | 9,891 | 5,992 |
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| Actual voters who voted[2] | 477,999 | 179,612 |
73.64% | 10.98 | ||||||
| Registered voters[2] | 649,019 | 172,797 |
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- Elections BC summary table tabulation errors corrected for SCP and SCL
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| █ Coalition | 39 / 48 |
61.35% |
5.52 | ||
| █ Co-operative Commonwealth | 7 / 48 |
35.10% |
-2.52 | ||
| █ Social Credit | 0 / 48 |
2.05% |
0.63 | ||
| █ Labour Progressive | 0 / 48 |
0.24% |
-3.28 | ||
| █ Other | 2 / 48 |
1.26% |
-0.35 | ||
MLAs elected
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Alberni: James Mowat
Burnaby: Ernest Winch
Cariboo: Angus MacLean
Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres
Columbia: Thomas King
Comox: Herbert John Welch
Cowichan-Newcastle: Andrew Mowatt Whisker
Cranbrook: Leo Nimsick
Delta: Alexander Campbell Hope
Dewdney: Roderick Charles MacDonald
Esquimalt: Charles Taschereau Beard
Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill
Fort George: Henry Robson Bowman
Grand Forks-Greenwood: Rupert Haggen
Kamloops: Sidney John Smith |
Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding
Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson
Mackenzie: B. Milton MacIntyre
Nelson-Creston: Walter Hendricks
North Okanagan: Charles William Morrow
North Vancouver: John Henry Cates
Oak Bay: Herbert Anscomb
Omineca: Robert Cecil Steele
Peace River: Glen Everton Braden
Prince Rupert: John Duncan McRae
Revelstoke: Arvid Lundell
Rossland-Trail: Alexander Douglas Turnbull
Saanich: Arthur James Richard Ash
Salmon Arm: Arthur Brown Ritchie |
Similkameen: Maurice Finnerty
Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney
Vancouver-Burrard: Donald Cameron Brown
Vancouver-Burrard: John Groves Gould
Vancouver Centre: Allan James McDonell
Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer
Victoria City: Nancy Hodges
Victoria City: Daniel John Proudfoot
Victoria City: William Thomas Straith
Yale: John J. Gillis
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Synopsis of results
| 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 | ||
- 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
| 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 |
Further reading
- Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
References
- Elections BC 1988, pp. 203, 213.
- Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
- Elections BC 1988, pp. 205–209, 215–219.
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