1933 British Columbia general election

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1933 British Columbia general election
Flag of British Columbia.svg
  1928 November 2, 1933 1937  

47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
24 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (cropped).jpg Rev. Robert Connell 1936.jpg
Leader Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Robert Connell
Party Liberal Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since19281933
Leader's seat Prince Rupert Victoria City
Last election12pre-creation
Seats won347
Seat changeIncrease2.svg22Increase2.svg7
Popular vote159,131120,185
Percentage41.74%31.53%
SwingIncrease2.svg1.70pp pre-creation

 Third partyFourth party
  William John Bowser (cropped).jpg Simon Fraser Tolmie.png
Leader William John Bowser [a] Simon Fraser Tolmie
Party Non-Partisan Independent Group Unionist
Leader since19331933
Leader's seatDid not run [a] Saanich (lost re-election)
Last electionDid not contest35 [b]
Seats won21
Seat changeIncrease2.svg2Decrease2.svg34 [c]
Popular vote38,83615,445
Percentage10.19%4.05%
SwingnewDecrease2.svg49.25pp [c]

Premier before election

Simon Fraser Tolmie
Conservative

Premier after election

Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
Liberal

The 1933 British Columbia general election was the eighteenth 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 September 13, 1933, and held on November 2, 1933. [1] The new legislature met for the first time on February 20, 1934.

Contents

The Liberal Party won a majority government.

The Official Opposition was formed by the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which was contesting its first election.

Because of internal discord, the provincial executive of the Conservative Party decided not to contest the election officially. Instead, each local association was to act on its own. Some candidates ran as Independents, some as Independent Conservatives. Those supporting the premier, Simon Fraser Tolmie, ran as Unionist Party of British Columbia, and those grouped around William John Bowser, a former premier, ran as the Non-Partisan Independent Group. When Bowser died on October 25, the elections in Vancouver Centre and Victoria City were postponed to November 27, and the following candidates withdrew: [2]

  • in Vancouver Centre, one each from the Unionists, NPIG and United Front
  • in Victoria City, one Unionist, three NPIG and one Independent

Other notable races include the election of Bridge River-Lillooet News publisher George Matheson Murray in Lillooet over Conservative Ernest Crawford Carson. Carson's brother Robert Henry Carson ran as a Liberal, winning Kamloops. Carson and his brother both served as cabinet ministers in later regimes. They were the sons of Robert Carson, an American who was one of the very few survivors of an Indian attack on a wagon train on the Oregon Trail and who went on to found one of the early ranches at Pavilion and whose holdings became part of the Diamond S Ranch. [3]

1932 redistribution of ridings

An Act was passed in 1932, providing for a reduction of the seats in the Assembly from 48 to 47 upon the next election. [4] The following changes were made:

Abolished ridingsNew ridings
Drawn from other ridings
Merger of districts
Reorganization of districts

    1934 post-election redistribution

    A 1934 Act increased the size of the Assembly from 47 to 48, by abolishing the district of Columbia-Revelstoke and reviving the previous districts of Columbia and Revelstoke, with immediate effect. [5] William Henry Sutherland was declared the MLA for Revelstoke, [6] and Thomas King (Liberal) was acclaimed in Columbia in the subsequent byelection. [7]

    Results

    Elections to the 18th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1933) [8]
    Political partyParty leaderMLAsVotes
    Candidates 1928 1933±#±%± (pp)
    Liberal Duff Pattullo 47123422Increase2.svg159,13114,259Increase2.svg41.741.70Increase2.svg
    Co-operative Commonwealth Robert Connell 4677Increase2.svg120,185120,185Increase2.svg31.53New
     Conservative fragmentation
      Non-Partisan Independent Group William John Bowser 30 2 38,836 10.19 
     Unionist Simon Fraser Tolmie 12115,4454.05
     Independent Conservative67,1141.87
      Independent 42,1930.58
      Oxford Group 111,6550.43
    All Conservative factions5335431Decrease2.svg65,243128,688Decrease2.svg17.1236.18Decrease2.svg
    Independent 2411Increase2.svg25,65822,000Increase2.svg6.735.72Increase2.svg
    Labour (all factions)411Steady2.svg2,35715,867Decrease2.svg0.624.42Decrease2.svg
    United Front (Workers and Farmers)204,5844,584Increase2.svg1.20New
    Independent Co-operative Commonwealth82,2662,266Increase2.svg0.59New
    Independent Liberal21,076750.28
    Socialist 5370370Increase2.svg0.10Returned
    Progressive Liberal1353353Increase2.svg0.09New
    Total2104847381,223100.00%
    Rejected ballots [9] 3,380 [a 1] 121Increase2.svg
    Actual voters who voted [9] 236,41561,481Increase2.svg73.07%1.74Increase2.svg
    Registered voters [9] 323,54078,300Increase2.svg
    1. Incomplete
    Seats and popular vote by party [8]
    PartySeatsVotesChange (pp)
      Liberal
    34 / 47
    41.74%
    1.70
     
      Co-operative Commonwealth
    7 / 47
    31.53%
    31.53
     
      Conservative (all factions)
    4 / 47
    17.12%
    -36.18
     
      Independent
    1 / 47
    6.73%
    5.72
     
      Labour
    1 / 47
    0.62%
    -4.42
     
     Other
    0 / 47
    2.26%
    1.65
     

    MLAs elected

    Synopsis of results

    Results by riding - 1933 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) [10]
    RidingWinning partyVotes
    Name 1928 PartyVotesShareMargin
    #
    Margin
    %
    LibCCFNPUnO-CUFIndOthTotal
     
    Alberni-Nanaimo NewLib3,14647.47%79311.96%3,1462,3537811851626,627
    Atlin LibLib41932.63%1118.64%419308136421 [a 1] 1,284
    Burnaby ConCCF4,54839.27%5284.55%4,0204,5485191,0516942272611,580
    Cariboo ConLib1,08954.50%57828.92%1,0893985111,998
    Chilliwack ConLib2,27344.96%61812.23%2,2731,6551,1285,056
    Columbia-Revelstoke NewLib1,94772.27%1,20044.54%1,9477472,694
    Comox ConLib2,20449.94%61413.91%2,2041,590259842764,413
    Cowichan-Newcastle ConOG1,65540.88%3679.06%5201,2882,240 [a 2] 4,048
    Cranbrook LibLib2,95169.53%1,72040.52%2,9511,231624,244
    Delta ConCCF2,63136.95%5387.55%2,0932,631612 [a 3] 491,7357,120
    Dewdney ConLib1,23530.34%1664.08%1,2359671,0691276734,071
    Esquimalt ConUn1,46639.03%591.57%1,4075253581,4663,756
    Fernie ILPILP1,69356.58%39413.16%1,2991,6932,992
    Fort George ConLib1,57756.32%95234.00%1,577625310192962,800
    Grand Forks-Greenwood ConLib1,03458.55%52329.61%1,0342215111,766
    The Islands ConLib72635.35%572.78%726400233669262,054
    Kamloops ConLib1,83644.76%47611.61%1,8361,3609064,102
    Kaslo-Slocan ConLib1,25045.05%29910.78%1,2505749512,775
    Lillooet ConLib92744.06%22210.55%9274727052,104
    Mackenzie ConCCF2,07143.61%68514.42%1,3862,0711,2924,749
    Nelson-Creston NewLib2,48949.19%1,18723.46%2,4891,1611,3021255,060
    New Westminster LibLib2,69446.98%1,21821.24%2,6941,4761251,4395,734
    North Okanagan ConLib2,32248.01%67613.97%2,3228681,6464,836
    North Vancouver LibCCF2,42735.19%6439.32%1,6362,4271,784 [a 4] 1327911 [a 5] 6,897
    Omineca LibLib1,07952.23%%1,079538355942,066
    Peace River NewNP95737.31%1576.12%749800957592,565
    Prince Rupert LibLib1,72564.90%1,06039.88%1,7256652682,658
    Rossland-Trail ConLib1,72943.84%41510.52%1,7299011,3143,944
    Saanich ConLib2,17137.97%3486.09%2,1711,2165081,8235,718
    Salmon Arm ConNP1,35144.82%46315.36%8886031,3511723,014
    Similkameen ConLib1,76543.23%3799.28%1,7657301,3862024,083
    Skeena LibLib90256.34%45128.17%9024512481,601
    South Okanagan ConLib1,63636.66%1914.28%1,6361,3821,4454,463
    Yale LibLib1,19368.64%88150.69%1,1932333121,738
    1. The incumbent Herbert Frederick Kergin received 267 votes.
    2. The incumbent Cyril Francis Davie received 585 votes.
    3. The incumbent John Walter Berry received 447 votes.
    4. Jack Loutet had been elected as a Conservative in a 1930 byelection
    5. John Melvin Bryan Sr., previously elected as a Liberal in 1924, ran as an Independent Liberal and received 846 votes
      = 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
      = Conservative factions
      = multiple candidates
    Results by riding - 1933 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) [10]
    RidingWinning partyVotes
    NameMLAs 1928 1933LibCCFNPUnO-CUFIndOthTotal
    Vancouver-Burrard 2New
      2
    19,13912,8575,6421,73323561640,222
    Vancouver Centre 2New
      2
    13,64810,4542,74164683428,323
    Vancouver East 2New
      2
    14,17121,9912,4504041,00241865641,092
    Vancouver-Point Grey 3New
      3
    31,43622,33010,5556,15217490211171,660
    Victoria City 4
      4
      2
      1
      1
    24,42015,1382,8163,1199519,22550365,316
      = election day deferred

    See also

    Notes

    1. 1 2 Bowser died prior to the election.
    2. Result for the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
    3. 1 2 Compared to the Conservative Party of British Columbia.

    References

    Further reading