1945 British Columbia general election

1945 British Columbia general election

←  1941 October 25, 1945 1949  →
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader John Hart (Liberal leader) Harold Winch Party Liberal-Conservative Coalition Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since 1941 1938 Leader's seat Victoria City Vancouver East Last election 33 [a] 14 Seats won 37 10 Seat change 4 4 Popular vote 261,147 175,960 Percentage 55.83% 37.62% Swing 8.02pp 4.26pp
Premier before election John Hart Coalition Premier after election John Hart Coalition

The 1945 British Columbia general election was the 21st 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 31, 1945, and held on October 25, 1945. The new legislature met for the first time on February 21, 1946.

A centre-right coalition was formed by the Liberal and Conservative (now called the Progressive Conservative) parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

Although the Coalition won fewer votes than the Liberal and Conservative parties won in total in the previous election, the Coalition still won more than half of the votes, captured more than half the seats, and formed a majority government.

Results

Elections to the 21st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1945) ^[1]

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1941	1945	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Coalition	John Hart    Royal Maitland	47	32	37	5	261,147	26,979	55.83	7.65
	Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF)	Harold Winch	48	14	10	4	175,960	24,520	37.62	4.26
	Labour (all factions)		2	1	1		1,395	5,746	0.30	1.27
	Liberal [b]		–	1	–	1	–	1,681	–	Changed allegiance
	Labor-Progressive Party (LPP)		21	–	–	–	16,479	16,479	3.52	New
	Social Credit (alliance)		16	–	–	–	6,627	6,627	1.42	New
	People's CCF		2	–	–	–	2,786	2,786	0.60	New
	Independent		2	–	–	–	1,532	106	0.33	0.03
	Independent PC		2	–	–	–	748	748	0.16	New
	Democratic		1	–	–	–	423	423	0.09	New
	Socialist Labour		3	–	–	–	285	398	0.06	0.09
	Independent Liberal		1	–	–	–	199	199	0.04	New
	Socialist		1	–	–	–	105	105	0.02	New
	Progressive Liberal		1	–	–	–	61	61	0.01	New
Total			147	48	48		467,747		100.00%
Rejected ballots [2]							3,899	898
Actual voters who voted [2]							298,387	5,514	62.66%	10.07
Registered voters [2]							476,222	58,383

Seats and popular vote by party ^[1]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█  Coalition	37 / 48	55.83%	-7.65
█  Co-operative Commonwealth	10 / 48	37.62%	4.26
█  Labor-Progressive	0 / 48	3.52%	3.52
█  Social Credit	0 / 48	1.42%	1.42
█ Other	1 / 48	1.61%	-1.55

MLAs elected

Alberni: James Mowat    Atlin: William Duncan Smith    Burnaby: Ernest Winch    Cariboo: Louis LeBourdais    Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres    Columbia: Thomas King    Comox: Herbert John Welch    Cowichan-Newcastle: Samuel Guthrie    Cranbrook: Frank William Green    Delta: Alexander Campbell Hope    Dewdney: Roderick Charles MacDonald    Esquimalt: Charles Taschereau Beard    Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill (ILP)    Fort George: John McInnis    Grand Forks-Greenwood: Thomas Alfred Love    Kamloops: Robert Henry Carson

Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding    Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson    Mackenzie: Herbert Gargrave    Nanaimo and the Islands: George Sharratt Pearson    Nelson-Creston: Frank Putnam    New Westminster: Boss Johnson    North Okanagan: K. C. MacDonald [c]    North Vancouver: John Henry Cates    Oak Bay: Herbert Anscomb    Omineca: Edward Fraser Rowland    Peace River: Joseph Hardcastle Corsbie    Prince Rupert: William Henry Brett    Revelstoke: William James Johnson    Rossland-Trail: James Lockhart Webster    Saanich: Norman William Whittaker    Salmon Arm: Arthur Brown Ritchie

Similkameen: Reginald Robert Laird    Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney    South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett    Vancouver-Burrard: Donald Cameron Brown    Vancouver-Burrard: George Moir Weir    Vancouver Centre: Allan James McDonell    Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer    Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner    Vancouver East: Harold Winch    Vancouver-Point Grey: Royal Maitland    Vancouver-Point Grey: James Alexander Paton    Vancouver-Point Grey: Tilly Rolston    Victoria City: John Hart    Victoria City: Nancy Hodges    Victoria City: William Thomas Straith    Yale: John J. Gillis

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1945 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) ^[3]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1941		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Coal	CCF	LPP	SC	Ind	Oth	Total
Alberni		Lib		Coal	2,135	54.02%	877	22.19%	2,135	1,258	559	–	–	–	3,952
Atlin		Lib		Coal	297	50.42%	5	0.84%	297	292	–	–	–	–	589
Burnaby		CCF		CCF	5,905	50.56%	1,172	10.04%	4,733	5,905	744	298	–	–	11,680
Cariboo		Lib		Coal	1,370	57.93%	375	15.86%	1,370	995	–	–	–	–	2,365
Chilliwack		Con		Coal	3,804	62.37%	1,509	24.74%	3,804	2,295	–	–	–	–	6,099
Columbia		Lib		Coal	671	53.30%	83	6.60%	671	588	–	–	–	–	1,259
Comox		CCF		Coal	3,432	45.62%	70	0.93%	3,432	3,362	729	–	–	–	7,523
Cowichan-Newcastle		CCF		CCF	3,768	55.33%	726	10.66%	3,042	3,768	–	–	–	–	6,810
Cranbrook		Con		Coal	2,077	49.04%	112	2.64%	2,077	1,965	193	–	–	–	4,235
Delta		CCF		Coal	5,859	53.64%	796	7.28%	5,859	5,063	–	–	–	–	10,922
Dewdney		Con		Coal	4,586	53.71%	633	7.42%	4,586	3,953	–	–	–	–	8,539
Esquimalt		Con		Coal	2,568	56.35%	579	12.70%	2,568	1,989	–	–	–	–	4,557
Fernie		Lab		Lab	1,289	42.28%	271	8.89%	1,018	742	–	–	–	1,289	3,049
Fort George		Lib		CCF	1,726	55.73%	355	11.46%	1,371	1,726	–	–	–	–	3,097
Grand Forks-Greenwood		Con		Coal	707	52.06%	246	18.11%	707	461	84	–	–	106	1,358
Kamloops		Lib		Coal	2,804	57.78%	911	18.77%	2,804	1,893	156	–	–	–	4,853
Kaslo-Slocan		Lib		CCF	1,098	53.12%	129	6.24%	969	1,098	–	–	–	–	2,067
Lillooet		Con		Coal	1,143	51.42%	320	14.40%	1,143	823	–	196	–	61	2,233
Mackenzie		CCF		CCF	2,961	52.19%	648	11.42%	2,313	2,961	293	106	–	–	5,673
Nanaimo and the Islands		Lib		Coal	3,124	54.24%	577	10.02%	3,124	2,547	–	89	–	–	5,760
Nelson-Creston		Lib		Coal	3,055	58.59%	1,806	34.64%	3,055	1,249	–	–	184	726	5,214
New Westminster		Lib		Coal	4,900	57.91%	1,933	22.85%	4,900	2,967	595	–	–	–	8,462
North Okanagan		Lib		Coal	2,990	59.78%	1,408	28.15%	2,990	1,582	–	430	–	–	5,002
North Vancouver		CCF		Coal	5,912	54.20%	1,842	16.89%	5,912	4,070	646	280	–	–	10,908
Oak Bay		Con		Coal	4,598	82.31%	3,610	64.62%	4,598	988	–	–	–	–	5,586
Omineca		Lib		CCF	932	51.58%	57	3.16%	875	932	–	–	–	–	1,807
Peace River		Lib		CCF	1,682	47.85%	565	16.07%	1,117	1,682	–	716	–	–	3,515
Prince Rupert		Lib		CCF	1,873	49.83%	525	13.97%	–	1,873	538	–	1,348	–	3,759
Revelstoke		Lib		Coal	1,089	51.17%	50	2.34%	1,089	1,039	–	–	–	–	2,128
Rossland-Trail		CCF		Coal	3,171	49.35%	1,111	17.29%	3,171	933	–	261	–	2,060	6,425
Saanich		Lib		Coal	5,414	57.85%	1,983	21.19%	5,414	3,431	239	–	–	275	9,359
Salmon Arm		Con		Coal	1,560	60.00%	520	20.00%	1,560	1,040	–	–	–	–	2,600
Similkameen		CCF		Coal	3,447	57.09%	856	14.18%	3,447	2,591	–	–	–	–	6,038
Skeena		Lib		Coal	901	58.7%	267	17.40%	901	634	–	–	–	–	1,535
South Okanagan		Con		Coal	3,706	64.25%	1,644	28.50%	3,706	2,062	–	–	–	–	5,768
Yale		Lib		Coal	1,077	66.77%	541	33.54%	1,077	536	–	–	–	–	1,613

  = 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

  = multiple candidates

Results by riding - 1945 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) ^[3]

Riding		Winning party		Votes
Name	MLAs	1941	1945	Coal	CCF	LPP	SC	Ind	Oth	Total
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	2	29,649	20,221	2,030	1,219	–	107	53,226
Vancouver Centre	2	2	2	21,854	15,000	3,967	959	–	426	42,206
Vancouver East	2	2	2	18,980	25,721	2,798	705	–	56	48,260
Vancouver-Point Grey	3	3	3	67,276	26,859	2,472	625	–	423	97,655
Victoria City	3	3	3	31,553	16,866	436	743	–	473	50,071

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading

• Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN   0-7718-8677-2.

Notes

1. The Liberals and Conservatives ran separately in the 1941 election. In that election, the Liberals won 21 seats and the Conservatives won 12 seats.
2. Duff Pattullo was the sole Liberal that chose not to join the Coalition, and Prince Rupert was the only district where the Coalition did not field a candidate in 1945. Pattullo stood as an Independent in this election.
3. Died before the opening of the new legislature. Charles William Morrow would win the subsequent byelection for the Coalition.

References

1. Elections BC 1988, pp. 193, 203.
2. Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
3. Elections BC 1988, pp. 195–199, 205–209.