1949 British Columbia general election

1949 British Columbia general election

←  1945 June 15, 1949 1952  →
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Boss Johnson (Liberal leader) Harold Winch Party Liberal-Conservative Coalition Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since 1947 1938 Leader's seat New Westminster Vancouver East Last election 37 10 Seats won 39 7 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 428,773 245,284 Percentage 61.35% 35.10% Swing 5.52pp 2.52pp
Premier before election Boss Johnson Coalition Premier after election Boss Johnson Coalition

The 1949 British Columbia general election was the 22nd 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 April 16, 1949, and held on June 15, 1949. The new legislature met for the first time on February 14, 1950.

The centre-right coalition formed by the Liberal and Conservative parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1945 election increased its share of the vote and its majority in the legislature.

Three different social credit groupings nominated or endorsed candidates in the election: the Social Credit Party, the Social Credit League, and the Union of Electors.

Results

Elections to the 22nd Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1949) ^[1]

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1945	1949	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Coalition	Boss Johnson    Herbert Anscomb	48	37	39	2	428,773	167,626	61.35	5.52
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Harold Winch	48	10	7	3	245,284	69,324	35.10	2.52
	Labour		1	1	1		1,483	88	0.21	0.09
	Independent		7	–	1	1	5,163	3,631	0.74	0.41
	Social Credit alliance split [a 1]
	█  Social Credit League		9	–	–	–	7,112		1.02
	█  Social Credit		7	–	–	–	4,424		0.63
	█  Union of Electors		12	–	–	–	2,790		0.40
	Social Credit total						14,326	7,699	2.05	0.63
	Labor-Progressive		2	–	–	–	1,660	14,819	0.24	3.28
	Independent Conservative		1	–	–	–	1,241	1,241	0.18	New
	People's CCF		1	–	–	–	470	2,316	0.07	0.53
	Socialist Labour		1	–	–	–	286	1	0.04	0.02
	People's Party of BC		1	–	–	–	137	137	0.02	New
Total			138	48	48		698,823		100.00%
Rejected ballots [2]							9,891	5,992
Actual voters who voted [2]							477,999	179,612	73.64%	10.98
Registered voters [2]							649,019	172,797

1. Elections BC summary table tabulation errors corrected for SCP and SCL

Seats and popular vote by party ^[1]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█  Coalition	39 / 48	61.35%	5.52
█  Co-operative Commonwealth	7 / 48	35.10%	-2.52
█  Social Credit	0 / 48	2.05%	0.63
█  Labor-Progressive	0 / 48	0.24%	-3.28
█ Other	2 / 48	1.26%	-0.35

MLAs elected

Alberni: James Mowat    Atlin: Frank Calder    Burnaby: Ernest Winch    Cariboo: Angus MacLean    Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres    Columbia: Thomas King    Comox: Herbert John Welch    Cowichan-Newcastle: Andrew Mowatt Whisker    Cranbrook: Leo Nimsick    Delta: Alexander Campbell Hope    Dewdney: Roderick Charles MacDonald    Esquimalt: Charles Taschereau Beard    Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill    Fort George: Henry Robson Bowman    Grand Forks-Greenwood: Rupert Haggen    Kamloops: Sidney John Smith

Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding    Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson    Mackenzie: B. Milton MacIntyre    Nanaimo and the Islands: George Sharratt Pearson    Nelson-Creston: Walter Hendricks    New Westminster: Boss Johnson    North Okanagan: Charles William Morrow    North Vancouver: John Henry Cates    Oak Bay: Herbert Anscomb    Omineca: Robert Cecil Steele    Peace River: Glen Everton Braden    Prince Rupert: John Duncan McRae    Revelstoke: Arvid Lundell    Rossland-Trail: Alexander Douglas Turnbull    Saanich: Arthur James Richard Ash    Salmon Arm: Arthur Brown Ritchie

Similkameen: Maurice Finnerty    Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney    South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett    Vancouver-Burrard: Donald Cameron Brown    Vancouver-Burrard: John Groves Gould    Vancouver Centre: Allan James McDonell    Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer    Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner    Vancouver East: Harold Winch    Vancouver-Point Grey: Albert Reginald MacDougall    Vancouver-Point Grey: Tilly Rolston    Vancouver-Point Grey: Leigh Stevenson    Victoria City: Nancy Hodges    Victoria City: Daniel John Proudfoot    Victoria City: William Thomas Straith    Yale: John J. Gillis

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1949 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) ^[3]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1945		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	Coal	CCF	SCP	SCL	UoE	Ind	Oth	Total
Alberni		Coal		Ind	3,290	42.84%	1,161	15.12%	1,638	2,129	–	–	–	3,290	622	7,679
Atlin		Coal		CCF	376	50.40%	6	0.80%	370	376	–	–	–	–	–	746
Burnaby		CCF		CCF	11,025	50.90%	1,044	4.82%	9,981	11,025	–	655	–	–	–	21,661
Cariboo		Coal		Coal	2,653	66.88%	1,339	33.76%	2,653	1,314	–	–	–	–	–	3,967
Chilliwack		Coal		Coal	6,847	57.17%	4,135	34.52%	6,847	2,712	–	2,417	–	–	–	11,976
Columbia		Coal		Coal	1,288	68.91%	707	37.82%	1,288	581	–	–	–	–	–	1,869
Comox		Coal		Coal	7,596	59.19%	2,358	18.38%	7,596	5,238	–	–	–	–	–	12,834
Cowichan-Newcastle		CCF		Coal	5,505	56.19%	1,311	13.38%	5,505	4,194	–	–	38	60	–	9,797
Cranbrook		Coal		CCF	3,026	50.53%	63	1.06%	2,963	3,026	–	–	–	–	–	5,989
Delta		Coal		Coal	12,203	49.59%	1,093	4.44%	12,203	11,110	1,293	–	–	–	–	24,606
Dewdney		Coal		Coal	8,127	49.08%	523	3.16%	8,127	7,604	–	829	–	–	–	16,560
Esquimalt		Coal		Coal	4,219	51.26%	1,731	21.03%	4,219	2,488	–	–	92	191	1,241	8,231
Fernie		Lab		Lab	1,483	39.09%	9	0.24%	1,474	837	–	–	–	–	1,483	3,794
Fort George		CCF		Coal	3,232	59.86%	1,065	19.72%	3,232	2,167	–	–	–	–	–	5,399
Grand Forks-Greenwood		Coal		CCF	922	44.14%	49	2.35%	873	922	–	–	–	294	–	2,089
Kamloops		Coal		Coal	4,992	64.47%	2,241	28.94%	4,992	2,751	–	–	–	–	–	7,743
Kaslo-Slocan		CCF		CCF	1,633	53.19%	196	6.38%	1,437	1,633	–	–	–	–	–	3,070
Lillooet		Coal		Coal	2,339	62.83%	1,159	31.14%	2,339	1,180	–	–	–	204	–	3,723
Mackenzie		CCF		Coal	5,787	55.57%	1,161	11.14%	5,787	4,626	–	–	–	–	–	10,413
Nanaimo and the Islands		Coal		Coal	5,860	61.50%	2,296	24.09%	5,860	3,564	–	–	104	–	–	9,528
Nelson-Creston		Coal		Coal	4,783	60.04%	2,108	26.46%	4,783	2,675	–	508	–	–	–	7,966
New Westminster		Coal		Coal	7,969	61.57%	3,460	26.73%	7,969	4,509	328	–	–	–	137	12,943
North Okanagan		Coal		Coal	4,966	60.95%	2,309	28.34%	4,966	2,657	525	–	–	–	–	8,148
North Vancouver		Coal		Coal	12,586	69.57%	7,082	39.14%	12,586	5,504	–	–	–	–	–	18,090
Oak Bay		Coal		Coal	5,918	84.21%	5,028	71.55%	5,918	890	–	–	220	–	–	7,028
Omineca		CCF		Coal	1,885	61.60%	710	23.20%	1,885	1,175	–	–	–	–	–	3,060
Peace River		CCF		Coal	2,342	49.69%	441	9.35%	2,342	1,901	–	–	–	–	470	4,713
Prince Rupert		CCF		Coal	2,971	56.41%	675	12.82%	2,971	2,296	–	–	–	–	–	5,267
Revelstoke		Coal		Coal	1,311	50.95%	49	1.90%	1,311	1,262	–	–	–	–	–	2,573
Rossland-Trail		Coal		Coal	5,910	56.30%	1,322	12.60%	5,910	4,588	–	–	–	–	–	10,498
Saanich		Coal		Coal	9,998	66.14%	5,352	35.41%	9,998	4,646	–	–	473	–	–	15,117
Salmon Arm		Coal		Coal	2,529	60.07%	848	20.14%	2,529	1,681	–	–	–	–	–	4,210
Similkameen		Coal		Coal	5,744	58.78%	1,716	17.56%	5,744	4,028	–	–	–	–	–	9,772
Skeena		Coal		Coal	2,048	73.20%	1,298	46.40%	2,048	750	–	–	–	–	–	2,798
South Okanagan		Coal		Coal	6,555	58.40%	1,886	16.80%	6,555 [a 1]	4,669	–	–	–	–	–	11,224
Yale		Coal		Coal	1,407	46.90%	542	18.07%	1,407	865	–	–	–	728	–	3,000

1. W. A. C. Bennett had resigned in 1948 to contest the federal byelection in Yale, which he lost. In the interim, Bob Browne-Clayton was elected for the Coalition in the provincial byelection, but Bennett returned for the general election.

  = 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

  = part of 1945 Social Credit alliance

  = multiple candidates

Results by riding - 1949 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) ^[3]

Riding		Winning party		Votes
Name	MLAs	1945	1949	Coal	CCF	SCP	SCL	UoE	Ind	Oth	Total
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	2	40,156	21,774	1,258	–	95	396	–	63,679
Vancouver Centre	2	2	2	29,171	17,969	–	814	–	–	286	48,240
Vancouver East	2	2	2	34,077	39,815	1,020	–	109	–	1,038	76,059
Vancouver-Point Grey	3	3	3	109,782	35,134	–	1,889	280	–	–	147,085
Victoria City	3	3	3	47,281	17,019	–	–	1,379	–	–	65,679

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.

References

1. Elections BC 1988, pp. 203, 213.
2. Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
3. Elections BC 1988, pp. 205–209, 215–219.