1966 British Columbia general election
Canadian provincial election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
September 12, 1966
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
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
| 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 |
||||||||
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| █ Social Credit | 33 / 55 |
4.76 | |||
| █ New Democratic | 16 / 55 |
5.82 | |||
| █ Liberal | 6 / 55 |
0.26 | |||
| █ Progressive Conservative | 0 / 55 |
-11.09 | |||
| █ Other | 0 / 55 |
0.25 | |||
MLAs elected
|
Single-member districts |
Multi-member districts
|
Synopsis of results
| 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 | ||
- 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
| 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 | – | – | – | |||||
- Leslie Peterson was previously MLA in Vancouver Centre
- Ralph Raymond Loffmark was previously MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey.
- Thomas Audley Bate was MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey during 1953-1963.
- = winning candidate
See also
Further reading
- 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.