Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)

Leader of the Opposition
Chef de l'Opposition
Incumbent John Rustad since October 19, 2024
Official Opposition Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Member of	Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
Seat	British Columbia Parliament Buildings
Term length	While leader of the largest party not in government
Inaugural holder	James Mackenzie McDonald
Formation	November 7, 1871;153 years ago (1871-11-07) [1]
Salary	CA$59,766.37 (2024) [a] [2]

The leader of the Opposition (French : chef de l'Opposition) is the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia who leads the political party recognized as the Official Opposition. This position generally goes to the leader of the largest party in the Legislative Assembly that is not in government.

History

Prior to the 1903 election, British Columbia politics operated as a non-partisan democracy. Members often declared themselves to be supporters of the government or of the opposition, but the labels were informal and the lines often shifted. The most prominent member of the Opposition was often called the "leader of the Opposition", but the position was not officially recognized until the introduction of formalized party politics. ^{[3] [4]}

List of leaders of the Opposition

Portrait	Opposition leader	Constituency	Term of office	Party
	James Alexander MacDonald (1858–1939)	Rossland City	October 19, 1903 – October 10, 1909		Liberal
	John Oliver (1856–1927)	Delta	October 10, 1909 – November 25, 1909		Liberal
	vacant [b]	—	November 25, 1909 – January 1910		Liberal
	James Hurst Hawthornthwaite [c] (1863–1926)	Nanaimo City	January 1910 – March 1910		Socialist
	Harlan Carey Brewster [c] (1870–1918)	Alberni	January 1910 – March 28, 1912		Liberal
	Parker Williams [d] (1872–1958)	Newcastle	March 1912 – March 1, 1916		Socialist
	Harlan Carey Brewster [e] (1870–1918)	Victoria City	March 1, 1916 – November 23, 1916		Liberal
	William John Bowser (1867–1933)	Vancouver City	November 23, 1916 – June 20, 1924		Conservative
	Robert Henry Pooley [f] (1878–1954)	Esquimalt	August 1924 – July 18, 1928		Conservative
	Duff Pattullo (1873–1956)	Prince Rupert	January 1929 – November 15, 1933		Liberal
	Robert Connell (1871–1957)	Victoria City	November 15, 1933 – June 1, 1937		Co-operative Commonwealth
					Social Reconstructive [g]
	Frank Porter Patterson (1876–1938)	Dewdney	June 1, 1937 – February 10, 1938		Conservative
	vacant [h]	—	February 10, 1938 – September 1938		Conservative
	Royal Maitland (1889–1946)	Vancouver-Point Grey	September 1938 – October 21, 1941		Conservative
	Harold Winch (1907–1993)	Vancouver East	October 21, 1941 – January 19, 1952		Co-operative Commonwealth
	Herbert Anscomb [i] (1892–1972)	Oak Bay	January 19, 1952 – June 12, 1952		Progressive Conservative
	Harold Winch (1907–1993)	Vancouver East	June 12, 1952 – April 10, 1953		Co-operative Commonwealth
	Arnold Webster (1899–1979)	Vancouver East	April 10, 1953 – April 6, 1956		Co-operative Commonwealth
	Robert Strachan (1913–1981)	Cowichan-Newcastle (until 1966) Cowichan-Malahat (from 1966)	April 6, 1956 – April 12, 1969		Co-operative Commonwealth [j]
					New Democratic [j]
	vacant [k]	—	April 12, 1969 – September 1969		New Democratic
	Dave Barrett (1930–2018)	Coquitlam	September 1969 – September 15, 1972		New Democratic
	W. A. C. Bennett (1900–1979)	South Okanagan	September 15, 1972 – June 5, 1973		Social Credit
	Frank Richter Jr. (1910–1977)	Boundary-Similkameen	June 5, 1973 – November 24, 1973		Social Credit
	Bill Bennett (1932–2015)	South Okanagan	November 24, 1973 – December 22, 1975		Social Credit
	William King [l] (1930–2020)	Revelstoke-Slocan	December 22, 1975 – June 3, 1976		New Democratic
	Dave Barrett (1930–2018)	Vancouver East	June 3, 1976 – May 20, 1984		New Democratic
	Bob Skelly (1943–2022)	Alberni	May 20, 1984 – April 12, 1987		New Democratic
	Mike Harcourt (born 1943)	Vancouver Centre	April 12, 1987 – November 5, 1991		New Democratic
	Gordon Wilson (born 1949)	Powell River-Sunshine Coast	November 5, 1991 – February 1993		Liberal
	Fred Gingell (1930–1999)	Delta South	February 1993 – February 17, 1994		Liberal
	Gordon Campbell (born 1948)	Vancouver-Quilchena (until 1996) Vancouver-Point Grey (from 1996)	February 17, 1994 – June 5, 2001		Liberal
	Joy MacPhail [m] (born 1952)	Vancouver-Hastings	June 5, 2001 – May 17, 2005		New Democratic
	Carole James (born 1957)	Victoria-Beacon Hill	May 17, 2005 – January 20, 2011		New Democratic
	Dawn Black (born 1943)	New Westminster	January 20, 2011 – April 17, 2011		New Democratic
	Adrian Dix (born 1964)	Vancouver-Kingsway	April 17, 2011 – May 4, 2014		New Democratic
	John Horgan (1959–2024)	Juan de Fuca	May 4, 2014 – July 18, 2017		New Democratic
	Christy Clark (born 1965)	Kelowna West	July 18, 2017 – August 4, 2017		Liberal
	Rich Coleman (born 1956)	Langley East	August 4, 2017 – February 3, 2018		Liberal
	Andrew Wilkinson (born 1958)	Vancouver-Quilchena	February 3, 2018 – November 21, 2020		Liberal
	Shirley Bond (born 1956 or 1957)	Prince George-Valemount	November 23, 2020 – April 30, 2022		Liberal
	Kevin Falcon (born 1963)	Vancouver-Quilchena	April 30, 2022 – October 19, 2024		Liberal
					BC United [n]
	John Rustad (born 1961)	Nechako Lakes	October 19, 2024 – present		Conservative

Notes

1. This number does not include the base salary received by all BC MLAs.
2. John Oliver lost his seat in the 1909 election.
3. The 1909 election saw four opposition members, two Liberals and two Socialists, elected. As seats were assigned by alphabetical order, Hawthornthwaite physically occupied the seat typical of the Opposition leader. Hawthornthwaite initially rejected the idea of being leader, but was later reported to have "assumed the functions of Opposition leader". However, by the next session, Brewster was being referred to as Opposition leader. ^[5]
4. Declined to be named Opposition leader, but was referred to as such by the media and received the appropriate salary. ^[5]
5. Became Opposition leader mid-legislature after by-election victories. ^[5]
6. After party leader William John Bowser lost his seat in the 1924 election, house leader Robert Henry Pooley became leader of the Opposition. In 1926 Simon Fraser Tolmie was elected Conservative leader but he did not seek a seat in the legislature until the 1928 provincial election, which his party won.
7. Connell was exeplled from the CCF in 1936 for opposing party policy. He and three other CCF MLAs formed the "Social Reconstructive" party. With a total of 4 MLAs compared to 3 remaining in the CCF, Connell's new party was the second largest in the legislature allowing him to retain the title of "leader of the Official Opposition".
8. Patterson died on office on February 10, 1938, leaving the post vacant until the Conservatives chose Royal Maitland as their leader in September.
9. Anscomb's Conservatives had been part of a coalition government with the Liberals until late 1951 when the Liberals decided to terminate the arrangement and Premier John Hart dropped his Conservative ministers from Cabinet. The Tories moved to the opposition benches and displaced the CCF to form the Official Opposition from February 1952 until the June 1952 provincial election.
10. The CCF became the NDP in 1961 as a result of the creation of the federal New Democratic Party.
11. Some sources name Thomas R. Berger as leader of the Official Opposition from 1969–1970 as he was the leader of the second largest party in the Legislative Assembly. However, he never sat in the Legislative Assembly during this time and could not have been called upon by the speaker as leader of the Opposition.
12. Barrett lost his seat in the December 1975 general election and re-entered the legislature through a June 1976 by-election. William Stewart King acted as leader of the Opposition in the house in the interim. Barrett continued as leader of the party during this period.
13. MacPhail served as the interim leader of the New Democrats from 2001 to 2003. After Carole James became party leader in 2003, MacPhail remained the leader of the Opposition until James won a seat in the 2005 election.
14. The BC Liberal Party changed its name to BC United on April 12, 2023.

References

1. "BC Archives".
2. "MLA Remuneration and Expenses | Legislative Assembly of BC". www.leg.bc.ca.
3. "Leaders of the Official Opposition of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. December 21, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
4. "Electoral History of British Columbia 1871–1986" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. Retrieved October 17, 2024.
5. "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903–" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. January 25, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2011. Retrieved August 16, 2020.