1907 British Columbia general election

1907 British Columbia general election

←  1903 February 2, 1907 (1907-02-02) 1909  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
42 seats to the 11th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 23 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   LIB SOC Leader Sir Richard McBride James Alexander MacDonald No leader Party Conservative Liberal Socialist Leader since 1903 1903 Leader's seat Dewdney Rossland City Seats before 22 17 2 Seats won 26 13 3 Seat change 4 4 1 Popular vote 30,781 23,481 5,603 Percentage 48.70% 37.15% 8.87% Swing 2.27pp 0.63pp 0.91pp
Premier before election Sir Richard McBride Conservative Premier Sir Richard McBride Conservative

The 1907 British Columbia general election was the eleventh general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election called on December 24, 1906, and held on February 2, 1907. The new legislature met for the first time on March 7, 1907.

The governing Conservative party won a second term in government, with almost half the popular vote, and a majority of the seats in the legislature, increasing its number of seats by 4 to 26.

The Liberal Party lost 4 seats in the legislature, despite winning about the same share of the popular vote that it had in the 1903 election.

The Socialist Party won one additional seat to bring its total to three.

Results

^[1]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1907)

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1903	1907	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Conservative	Richard McBride	42	22	26	4	30,781	2,868	48.70%	2.27
	Liberal	James Alexander MacDonald	40	17	13	4	23,481	766	37.15%	0.63
	Socialist		20	2	3	1	5,603	816	8.87%	0.91
	Canadian Labour [a 1]		6	1	–	1	2,495	1,926	3.95%	3.41
	Independent Labour [lower-alpha 1]		2	–	–	–	487	487	0.77%	New
	Independent Socialist		1	–	–	–	211	211	0.33%	New
	Independent		1	–	–	–	147	147	0.23%	New
Total			112	42	42		63,205		100.00%

1. Comparison is with combined totals of local Labour candidates in 1903

Seats and popular vote by party ^[1]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█  Conservative	26 / 42	48.70%	2.27		2.27
█  Liberal	13 / 42	37.15%	-0.63
█  Socialist	3 / 42	8.87%	0.91		0.91
█  Labour	0 / 42	3.95%	-3.41
█ Other	0 / 42	1.33%	0.86		0.86

Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected: ^[3]

Alberni: Harlan Carey Brewster    Atlin: Henry Esson Young    Cariboo: Harry Jones    Cariboo: John MacKay Yorston    Chilliwhack: Charles William Munro    Columbia: Henry George Parson    Comox: Robert Grant    Cowichan: William Henry Hayward    Cranbrook: James Horace King    Delta: John Oliver    Dewdney: Richard McBride [lower-alpha 2]    Esquimalt: John Jardine    Fernie: William Roderick Ross    Grand Forks: John McInnis

Greenwood: George Ratcliffe Naden    The Islands: Albert Edward McPhillips    Kamloops: Frederick John Fulton    Kaslo: Neil Franklin MacKay    Lillooet: Mark Robert Eagleson    Nanaimo City: James Hurst Hawthornthwaite    Nelson City: George Arthur Benjamin Hall    Newcastle: Parker Williams    New Westminster City: Thomas Gifford    Okanagan: Price Ellison    Revelstoke: Thomas Taylor    Richmond: Francis Lovett Carter-Cotton    Rossland City: James Alexander MacDonald    Saanich: David McEwen Eberts

Similkameen: Lytton Wilmot Shatford    Skeena: William Thomas Kergin    Slocan: William Hunter    Vancouver City: Charles William John Bowser    Vancouver City: James Ford Garden    Vancouver City: Alexander Henry Boswell MacGowan    Vancouver City: George Albert McGuire    Vancouver City: Robert Garnett Tatlow    Victoria City: Henry Frederick William Behnsen    Victoria City: Frederick Davey    Victoria City: Richard McBride    Victoria City: Henry Broughton Thomson    Yale: Stuart Alexander Henderson    Ymir: James Hargrave Schofield

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1907 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) ^[4]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1903		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Con	Lib	Soc	C-Lab	Oth	Total
Alberni		Lib		Lib	236	48.86%	32	6.62%	204	236	43	–	–	483
Atlin [lower-alpha 3]		Con		Con	78	62.90%	32	25.80%	78	46	–	–	–	124
Chilliwhack		Lib		Lib	331	51.64%	21	3.28%	310	331	–	–	–	641
Columbia		Lib		Con	254	56.57%	59	13.14%	254	195	–	–	–	449
Comox		Con		Con	372	56.02%	80	12.04%	372	292	–	–	–	664
Cowichan		Lib		Con	123	53.95%	18	7.90%	123	105	–	–	–	228
Cranbrook		Lib		Lib	473	44.54%	95	8.95%	378	473	–	–	211	1,062
Delta		Lib		Lib	430	62.23%	169	24.46%	261	430	–	–	–	691
Dewdney		Con		Con	384	61.44%	143	22.88%	384	241	–	–	–	625
Esquimalt		Con		Lib	297	58.58%	87	17.16%	210	297	–	–	–	507
Fernie		Con		Con	350	49.93%	65	9.27%	350	66	285	–	–	701
Grand Forks		Con		Soc	323	43.77%	68	9.22%	255	160	323	–	–	738
Greenwood		Lib		Lib	217	37.22%	27	4.63%	190	217	176	–	–	583
The Islands		Lib		Con	179	49.31%	6	1.65%	179	173	11	–	–	363
Kamloops		Con		Con	534	54.88%	95	9.76%	534	439	–	–	–	973
Kaslo		Con		Con	233	55.21%	44	10.42%	233	189	–	–	–	422
Lillooet		Con		Lib	123	51.68%	8	3.36%	115	123	–	–	–	238
Nanaimo City		Soc		Soc	455	50.22%	165	18.21%	161	290	455	–	–	906
Nelson City		Con		Lib	314	43.67%	5	0.69%	309	314	96	–	–	719
Newcastle		Soc		Soc	259	46.67%	62	11.17%	99	197	259	–	–	555
New Westminster City		Con		Con	675	49.31%	128	9.35%	675	547	–	147	–	1,369
Okanagan		Con		Con	893	54.85%	250	15.35%	893	643	92	–	–	1,628
Revelstoke		Con		Con	440	54.79%	171	21.29%	440	269	94	–	–	803
Richmond		Con		Con	417	48.04%	14	1.61%	417	403	48	–	–	868
Rossland City		Lib		Lib	241	45.90%	55	10.47%	186	241	98	–	–	525
Saanich		Lib		Con	275	51.69%	18	3.38%	275	257	–	–	–	532
Similkameen		Con		Con	298	56.55%	98	18.60%	298	200	29	–	–	527
Skeena		Con		Lib	188	61.44%	70	22.88%	118	188	–	–	–	306
Slocan		Lab		Con	193	49.11%	74	18.83%	193	119	81	–	–	393
Yale		Lib		Lib	289	58.27%	82	16.54%	207	289	–	–	–	496
Ymir		Con		Con	325	45.71%	86	12.10%	325	239	–	–	147	711

  = open seat

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = other incumbents renominated

  = Independent Labour candidate

Results by riding - 1907 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) ^[4]

Party		Cariboo			Vancouver City			Victoria City
		Votes	Share	Change	Votes	Share	Change	Votes	Share	Change
	Conservative	287	43.88%	-1.78%	15,503	51.38%	2.81%	5,965	47.54%	6.01%
	Liberal	367	56.12%	1.78%	10,956	36.31%	10.23%	4,474	35.66%	-17.37%
	Socialist	–	–	–	3,032	10.05%	0.91%	443	3.53%	-1.92%
	Canadian Labour	–	–	–	682	2.26%	-12.81%	1,666	13.28%	13.28%
	Socialist Labour	–	–	–	–	–	-1.14%	–	–	–
Total		654	100.00%		30,173	100.00%		12,548	100.00%
Seats won		2			5			4
Incumbents returned		1			4			–
Seat change		–			–			4

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties
• Richard McBride

Further reading

• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia , Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974).
• Hopkins, J. Castell (1908). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1907. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.
• Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN   0-7718-8677-2.

Notes

1. Described as Liberal-Labour candidates by the Conservative press, and no Liberal candidates were nominated in their districts. They were repudiated by Canadian Labour's Victoria branch. ^[2]
2. McBride also won a seat in Victoria. He renounced Dewdney, and William J. Manson (Con) would win in the subsequent byelection.
3. Results are incomplete. Several polling places were unreported. ^[5]

References

1. Elections BC 1988, pp. 91, 99.
2. Elections BC 1988, p. 104.
3. Elections BC 1988, pp. 101–103.
4. Elections BC 1988, pp. 96–99, 101–103.
5. Elections BC 1988, pp. 101, 104.