1916 British Columbia general election

Canadian provincial election From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1916 British Columbia general election was the fourteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on July 5, 1916, and held on September 14, 1916. The new legislature met for the first time on March 1, 1917.

Quick facts 47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 24 seats needed for a majority, First party ...
1916 British Columbia general election
← 1912
September 14, 1916
1920 â†’
47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
24 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Harlan Carey Brewster William John Bowser
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1912 1915
Leader's seat Alberni[a] Vancouver City
Last election 0 39
Seats won 36[a] 9
Seat change Increase36 Decrease30
Popular vote 89,892 72,842[b]
Percentage 50.00% 40.52%
Swing Increase24.63pp Decrease19.13pp
Premier before election

William John Bowser
Conservative

 Premier after election

Harlan Carey Brewster
Liberal

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A 1916 Act of the Legislature[1] provided for the life of the Assembly to be extended to five years,[2] and members of the clergy were no longer disqualified from being elected as MLAs.[3]

The Liberal Party defeated the governing Conservative Party, winning 50% of the vote, almost double its share from the previous election. The Liberals won 36 of the 47 seats in the legislature.

The Conservatives' popular vote fell from almost 60% to just over 40%, and took nine seats, forming the Official Opposition.

Two other seats were won by independents, including one Independent Socialist.

Soldiers serving overseas in the First World War were able to vote in the election,[4] and their votes were cast between August 5 and Election Day.[5]

Two referendums were also held on Election Day (concerning Prohibition and women's suffrage), but their results were not announced until later in the year.[6]

1915 redistribution of ridings

An Act was passed in 1915, providing for an increase in the seats in the Assembly from 42 to 47 upon the next election. [7] The following changes were made:

More information Abolished ridings, New ridings ...
Abolished ridingsNew ridings
Abolition of multi-member district
Merger of districts
Division of districts
Renaming of districts
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Results

[8]

More information Political party, Party leader ...
Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1916)
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1912 1916 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Liberal Harlan Brewster 45–3636Increase89,89268,459Increase50.0024.63Increase
Conservative William Bowser 4639930Decrease72,84222,419Increase40.5219.13Decrease
Independent   7–11Increase4,9263,413Increase2.740.95Increase
Independent Socialist   3–11Increase1,3211,321Increase0.74New
Independent Conservative   41–1Decrease3,0141,851Increase1.680.31Increase
Socialist   41–1Decrease2,1067,260Decrease1.179.91Decrease
Social Democratic   31–1Decrease1,012391Increase0.560.18Decrease
Independent Labour   2–––2,9852,985Increase1.66New
Independent Liberal   1–––1,5181,518Increase0.84New
Independent Progressive   1–––158158Increase0.09New
Total 11642 47 179,774 100.00%
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More information Party, Seats ...
Seats and popular vote by party[8]
PartySeatsVotesChange (pp)
█ Liberal
36 / 47
50.00%
 24.63
 
█ Conservative
9 / 47
40.52%
 -19.13
 
█ Socialist
0 / 47
1.17%
 -9.91
 
█ Other
2 / 47
8.31%
 4.41
 
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Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected:[9]


Synopsis of results

More information Riding, Winning party ...
Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[10]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1912 Party Votes Share Margin
#		 Margin
%		 Lib Con Soc I-Con I-Soc SD Ind Oth Total
 
Alberni Con Lib 39339.26%383.80%393355––––253–1,001
Atlin Con Lib 32954.29%528.58%329277––––––606
Cariboo New Lib 45368.64%24637.28%453207––––––660
Chilliwhack Con Lib 98755.64%20011.28%987787––––––1,774
Columbia I-Con Lib 54166.63%27033.26%541271––––––812
Comox Con Lib 91643.07%341.60%916882246––83––2,127
Cowichan Con Ind 53956.92%13113.84%408–––––539–947
Cranbrook Con Lib 72759.06%22318.12%727504––––––1,231
Delta Con Con 96451.55%583.10%906964––––––1,870
Dewdney Con Lib 92754.08%1408.16%927787––––––1,714
Esquimalt Con Con 65550.08%20.16%653655––––––1,308
Fernie Con Lib 90346.38%773.96%903826218–––––1,947
Fort George New Con 49943.43%70.61%–499––492––1581,149
Grand Forks Con Lib 58463.62%25027.24%584334––––––918
Greenwood Con Lib 49170.55%28641.10%491205––––––696
The Islands Con Lib 35850.28%40.56%358354––––––712
Kamloops Con Lib 1,51961.27%55922.54%1,519960––––––2,479
Kaslo Con Lib 45654.94%829.88%456374––––––830
Lillooet Con Con 29652.39%274.78%269296––––––565
Nanaimo SD Lib 1,13757.14%56228.25%1,137575––278–––1,990
Nelson New Con 60748.99%1008.07%507607––––125–1,239
Newcastle Soc I-Soc 55156.11%12012.22%–431––551–––982
New Westminster Con Lib 1,36953.58%1837.16%1,3691,186––––––2,555
North Okanagan New Lib 1,26157.08%31314.16%1,261948––––––2,209
North Vancouver New Lib 98052.80%38220.58%980598–278––––1,856
Omineca New Lib 47362.16%18524.32%473288––––––761
Prince Rupert Con Lib 1,06252.89%1165.78%1,062946––––––2,008
Revelstoke Con Lib 80260.62%28121.24%802521––––––1,323
Richmond Con Lib 1,44154.07%2529.45%1,4411,189–35––––2,665
Rossland Con Lib 42455.79%8811.58%424336––––––760
Saanich Con Lib 1,03358.53%30117.06%1,033732––––––1,765
Similkameen Con Con 65055.41%12710.82%523650––––––1,173
Slocan Con Lib 44850.06%10.12%448447––––––895
South Okanagan New Con 84554.52%1409.04%705845––––––1,550
South Vancouver New Lib 1,57945.75%2055.94%1,5791,374–––––4983,451
Trail New Con 62645.56%14210.33%484626262–––––1,372
Yale Con Lib 80957.05%20014.10%809609––––––1,418
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  = 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
More information Party, Vancouver City ...
Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[10]
PartyVancouver CityVictoria City
VotesShareChangeVotesShareChange
Liberal 47,26349.38%18.53%15,77251.29%26.17%
Conservative 39,05040.80%-13.94%11,34736.90%-30.00%
Independent 2,8242.95%1.01%1,1853.85%0.01%
Independent Conservative 2,7012.82%New–––
Independent Labour 2,4872.60%New–––
Socialist 1,3801.44%-11.02%––-4.13%
Independent Liberal –––1,5184.94%New
Social Democratic –––9293.02%New
Total46,285100.00%16,034100.00%
Seats won
  5
  1
  4
Incumbents returned
  1
–
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See also

Notes and references

Further reading

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