1920 British Columbia general election

1920 British Columbia general election
47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia ; 24 seats needed for a majority
Premier before election; John Oliver ; Liberal	Premier after election; John Oliver ; Liberal

Last updated November 04, 2024

The 1920 British Columbia general election was the fifteenth 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 October 23, 1920, and held on December 1, 1920. The new legislature met for the first time on February 8, 1921.

Results

Elections to the 15th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1920)^[2]
Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
Political party		Party leader	Candidates	1916	1920	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Liberal	John Oliver ^{[a 1]}	45	36	26	10	134,167	44,275	37.89	12.11
	Conservative	William Bowser	42	9	14	5	110,475	37,633	31.20	9.32
	Independent ^{[a 2]}		18	1	3	2	36,736	31,810	10.37	7.63
	Federated Labour ^{[a 3]}		14	–	3	3	32,230	32,230	9.10	New
	People's Party		1	–	1	1	1,354	1,354	0.38	New
	Independent Socialist		1	1	–	1	419	902	0.12	0.62
	Socialist ^{[a 4]}		7	–	–		12,386	10,280	3.50	2.33
	Soldier ^{[a 5]}		11	–	–	–	10,780	10,780	3.04	New
	Grand Army of United Veterans^{[a 6]}		2	–	–	–	5,441	5,441	1,54	New
	Independent Liberal		3	–	–		3,433	1,915	0.97	0.13
	United Farmers		2	–	–	–	3,178	3,178	0.90	New
	Independent Conservative		2	–	–		1,602	1,412	0.45	1.23
	Independent Soldier		2	–	–	–	907	907	0.26	New
	Independent Farmer		3	–	–	–	526	526	0.15	New
	Liberal–Conservative		1	–	–	–	424	424	0.12	New
	Independent Labour		1	–	–		30	2,955	0.01	1.65
Total			155	47	47		354,088		100.00%

↑ nominated and won in both Delta and Victoria City. He would opt to resign from the Delta seat.
↑ Includes candidates from the Liberty League of B.C. (2,466 votes), Vancouver Ratepayers Association (3,291 votes), and Women's Freedom League (4,166 votes).
↑ Includes candidates not directly nominated, but supported by, the Federated Labour Party.
↑ Includes John Henry Burrough, a Labour candidate in Prince Rupert running on a Socialist Party platform.
↑ Soldier-Farmer candidates ran in rural Districts (five candidates, 3361 votes) and Soldier-Labour candidates ran in urban ones (six candidates, 7419 votes).
↑ Some GAUV candidates ran on a joint Soldier-Labour ticket.

Seats and popular vote by party^[2]
Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█ Liberal	26 / 47	37.89%	-12.11
█ Conservative	14 / 47	31.20%	-9.32
█ Federated Labour	3 / 47	9.10%	9.10	9.1
█ Independent	3 / 47	10.37%	7.63	7.63
█ Soldier/GUAV	0 / 47	4.58%	4.58	4.58
█ Socialist	0 / 47	3.50%	2.33	2.33
█ Other	2 / 47	3.36%	-2.21

MLAs elected

Alberni : Richard John Burde (Ind)

Atlin : Herbert Frederick Kergin

Cariboo : John MacKay Yorston

Chilliwhack : Edward Dodsley Barrow

Columbia : John Andrew Buckham

Comox : Thomas Menzies (PP)

Cowichan : Kenneth Forrest Duncan (Ind)

Cranbrook : James Horace King

Delta : John Oliver

Dewdney : John Alexander Catherwood

Esquimalt : Robert Henry Pooley

Fernie : Thomas Aubert Uphill (FLP)

Fort George : Henry George Thomas Perry

Grand Forks : Ezra Churchill Henniger

Greenwood : John Duncan MacLean

The Islands : Malcolm Bruce Jackson

Kamloops : Frederick William Anderson

Kaslo : Fred W. Lister

Lillooet : Archibald McDonald

Nanaimo : William Sloan

Nelson : William Oliver Rose

Newcastle : Samuel Guthrie (FLP)

New Westminster : David Whiteside

North Okanagan : Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald

North Vancouver : George Samuel Hanes (Ind)

Omineca : Alexander Malcolm Manson

Prince Rupert : Thomas Dufferin Pattullo

Revelstoke : William Henry Sutherland

Richmond : Thomas Pearson

Rossland : William Kemble Esling

Saanich : Frederick Arthur Pauline

Similkameen : William Alexander McKenzie

Slocan : William Hunter

South Okanagan : James William Jones

South Vancouver : Robert Henry Neelands (FLP)

Trail : James Hargrave Schofield

Vancouver City : John Wallace deBeque Farris

Vancouver City : Malcolm Archibald Macdonald

Vancouver City : Ian Alistair MacKenzie

Vancouver City : James Ramsay

Vancouver City : Mary Ellen Smith

Vancouver City : William John Bowser

Victoria City : Joseph Badenoch Clearihue

Victoria City : John Hart

Victoria City : John Oliver

Victoria City : Joshua Hinchcliffe

Yale : John McRae

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1920 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)^[3]
Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1916		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Lib	Con	FLP	PP	Soc	Sol^{[a 1]}	UF	I-Lib	I-Con	Ind	Oth	Total
Name	1916		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %												Total

Alberni		Lib		Ind	841	43.94%	166	8.67%	398	–	–	–	–	675	–	–	–	841	–	1,914
Atlin		Lib		Lib	390	36.69%	90	8.47%	390	229	300	–	–	–	–	–	–	114	30	1,063
Cariboo		Lib		Lib	561	61.65%	212	28.30%	561	349	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	910
Chilliwhack		Lib		Lib	1,911	53.16%	227	6.32%	1,911	1,684	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,595
Columbia		Lib		Lib	584	60.58%	204	21.16%	584	380	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	964
Comox		Lib		PP	1,354	32.83%	121	2.93%	806	1,233	–	1,354	–	–	–	731	–	–	–	4,124
Cowichan		Ind		Ind	1,145	52.60%	113	5.20%	–	1,032	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,145	–	2,177
Cranbrook		Lib		Lib	941	50.98%	36	1.96%	941	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	905	–	–	1,846
Delta		Con		Lib	1,334	37.50%	218	6.13%	1,334	1,116	–	–	–	1,107	–	–	–	–	–	3,557
Dewdney		Lib		Con	1,535	45.45%	166	4.91%	1,369	1,535	473	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,377
Esquimalt		Con		Con	1,158	49.87%	473	20.37%	685	1,158	–	–	–	479	–	–	–	–	–	2,322
Fernie		Lib		FLP	932	38.37%	158	6.51%	723	774	932	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,429
Fort George		Con		Lib	1,140	55.18%	353	17.09%	1,140	787	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	139	2,066
Grand Forks		Lib		Lib	390	50.39%	6	0.78%	390	384	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	774
Greenwood		Lib		Lib	392	49.06%	100	12.51%	392	292	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	115	799
The Islands		Lib		Lib	581	40.86%	100	7.03%	581	481	–	–	–	360	–	–	–	–	–	1,422
Kamloops		Lib		Lib	1,617	37.43%	209	4.84%	1,617	1,295	–	–	–	–	1,408	–	–	–	–	4,320
Kaslo		Lib		Con	760	50.53%	16	1.06%	744	760	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,504
Lillooet		Con		Con	339	47.48%	126	17.65%	213	339	–	–	–	162	–	–	–	–	–	714
Nanaimo		Lib		Lib	1,370	41.19%	199	5.98%	1,370	785	1,171	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,326
Nelson		Con		Con	1,232	61.75%	469	23.50%	763	1,232	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,995
Newcastle		I-Soc		FLP	704	42.00%	280	16.7%	–	–	704	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	972^{[a 2]}	1,676
New Westminster		Lib		Lib	1,980	43.07%	369	8.03%	1,980	1,006	–	–	–	1,611	–	–	–	–	–	4,597
North Okanagan		Lib		Lib	2,037	53.51%	267	7.02%	2,037	–	–	–	–	–	1,770	–	–	–	–	3,807
North Vancouver		Lib		Ind	2,681	54.68%	1,501	30.61%	913	1,180	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,810^{[a 3]}	–	4,903
Omineca		Lib		Lib	630	60.87%	357	34.49%	630	273	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	132	–	1,035
Prince Rupert		Lib		Lib	1,501	43.70%	804	23.41%	1,501	561	–	–	676	–	–	–	697	–	–	3,435
Revelstoke		Lib		Lib	acclaimed
Richmond		Lib		Con	2,863	37.89%	151	2.00%	2,712	2,863	1,499	–	–	272	–	–	–	210	–	7,556
Rossland		Lib		Con	257	38.02%	18	2.66%	180	257	239	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	676
Saanich		Lib		Lib	1,858	39.78%	102	2.19%	1,858	1,756	–	–	–	1,057	–	–	–	–	–	4,671
Similkameen		Con		Con	1,354	51.72%	90	3.44%	1,264	1,354	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,618
Slocan		Lib		Con	568	41.55%	97	7.09%	471	568	328	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1,367
South Okanagan		Con		Con	1,882	56.77%	449	13.54%	1,433	1,882	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3,315
South Vancouver		Lib		FLP	3,255	37.75%	811	9.41%	1,969	2,444	3,255	–	–	–	–	–	–	955	–	8,623
Trail		Con		Con	1,315	60.80%	467	21.60%	848	1,315	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2,163
Yale		Lib		Con	913	39.58%	176	7.63%	737	913	–	–	–	–	–	657	–	–	–	2,307

↑ Candidates in Esquimalt, New Westminster and Saanich were Soldier-Labour; others were Soldier-Farmer
↑ The incumbent James Hurst Hawthornthwaite (Ind-Soc), elected in a 1918 byelection, and formerly the Socialist MLA for Nanaimo City, came in third with 419 votes.
↑ The incumbent George Samuel Hanes, formerly elected as a Liberal, was the winning candidate with 2,681 votes. His candidacy was endorsed by the local Liberal association and the Great War Veterans Association.

= 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

= candidate repudiated by local association

= multiple candidates

Results by riding - 1920 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)^[3]
Party		Vancouver City			Victoria City
Party		Votes	Share	Change	Votes	Share	Change
	Liberal	78,789	38.96%	-10.42%	19,933	36.96%	-14.33%
	Conservative	60,570	29.95%	-10.85%	17,688	32.79%	-4.11%
	Federated Labour	22,117	10.97%	New	1,212	2.25%	New
	Independent	16,121	7.97%	5.02%	4,485	8.32%	4.46%
	Socialist	11,710	5.79%	4.35%	–	–	-4.13%
	Grand Army of United Veterans	5,441	2.69%	New	–	–	–
	Women's Freedom League	4,166	2.06%	New	–	–	–
	Vancouver Ratepayers Association	3,291	1.63%	New	–	–	–
	Soldier–Labour	–	–	–	5,329	9.88%	New
	Liberty League of BC	–	–	–	2,466	4.57%	New
	Independent Liberal	–	–	–	2,045	3.79%	-1.14%
	Independent Soldier	–	–	–	778	1.44%	New
	Independent Conservative	–	–	-2.82%	–	–	–
	Independent Labour	–	–	-2.60%	–	–	–
	Social Democratic	–	–	–	–	–	-3.02%
Total		202,205	100.00%		53,936	100.00%
Seats won		5 1			3 1
Incumbents returned		3 1			1

Notes and references

Notes

↑ Oliver was also elected as member for Delta, but chose to resign from that seat.

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References

↑ Women's Right to Vote in Canada
1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 123, 139.
1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 125–128, 141–144.

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[4] ted and won in both Delta and Victoria City. He would opt to resign from the Delta seat.

[5] Includes candidates from the Liberty League of B.C. (2,466 votes), Vancouver Ratepayers Association (3,291 votes), and Women's Freedom League (4,166 votes).

[6] Includes candidates not directly nominated, but supported by, the Federated Labour Party.

[7] Includes John Henry Burrough, a Labour candidate in Prince Rupert running on a Socialist Party platform.

[8] Soldier-Farmer candidates ran in rural Districts (five candidates, 3361 votes) and Soldier-Labour candidates ran in urban ones (six candidates, 7419 votes).

[9] Some GAUV candidates ran on a joint Soldier-Labour ticket.

[11] Candidates in Esquimalt, New Westminster and Saanich were Soldier-Labour; others were Soldier-Farmer

[12] The incumbent James Hurst Hawthornthwaite (Ind-Soc), elected in a 1918 byelection, and formerly the Socialist MLA for Nanaimo City, came in third with 419 votes.

[13] The incumbent George Samuel Hanes, formerly elected as a Liberal, was the winning candidate with 2,681 votes. His candidacy was endorsed by the local Liberal association and the Great War Veterans Association.

[1] Oliver was also elected as member for Delta, but chose to resign from that seat.

[2] Women's Right to Vote in Canada

[FOOTNOTEElections_BC1988123,_139-3] 1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 123, 139.

[FOOTNOTEElections_BC1988125–128,_141–144-10] 1 2 Elections BC 1988, pp. 125–128, 141–144.

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v t e Elections and referendums in British Columbia
General elections	1856 1860 1863 1866 1869 1871 1875 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1898 1900 1903 1907 1909 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1952 1953 1956 1960 1963 1966 1969 1972 1975 1979 1983 1986 1991 1996 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2020 2024
Municipal elections	2005 2008 2011 2014 2018 2022
Referendums	1873 1909 1916 1920 1924 1937 1952 1972 1991 2002 2005 2009 2011 2018
See also: List of British Columbia by-elections