List of premiers of British Columbia

John Horgan is the current premier of British Columbia

The Premier of British Columbia is the first minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The province was a British crown colony governed by the Governors of British Columbia before joining Canadian Confederation in 1871. Since then, it has had a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the legislative assembly. The premier is British Columbia's head of government, and the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of British Columbia and presides over that body.

Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a no-confidence motion.

Before 1903, British Columbia did not use a party system; instead, premiers of British Columbia had no official party affiliation and were chosen by elected members of the legislative assembly from among themselves. Candidates ran as "Government", "Opposition", "Independent", or in formulations such as "Opposition independent", indicating their respective positions to the incumbent regime.

British Columbia has had 35 individuals serve as premier since joining Confederation, of which 14 individuals had no party affiliation, three were Conservatives, eight were Liberals, four were Socreds, and six were New Democrats. The first premier was John Foster McCreight, who was inaugurated in 1871. Joseph Martin spent the shortest time in office, at 106 days. At over twenty years, W. A. C. Bennett spent the longest time in office, and is the only premier to serve in more than four parliaments. The incumbent premier is John Horgan, who was sworn in on July 18, 2017.

Premiers of British Columbia

  No party affiliation   British Columbia Conservative Party   British Columbia Liberal Party   British Columbia Social Credit Party   British Columbia New Democratic Party

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office		Electoral mandates (Assembly)	Political party		Riding
1		John Foster McCreight (1827–1913)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Title created (caretaker government)⁠ 1871 election (1st Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria City
2		Amor De Cosmos (1825–1897)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (1st Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria
3 (1 of 2)		George Anthony Walkem (1834–1908)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (1st Leg.)⁠ 1875 election (2nd Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Cariboo
4		Andrew Charles Elliott (1829–1889)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (2nd Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria City
5 (2 of 2)		George Anthony Walkem (1834–1908)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1878 election (3rd Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Cariboo
6		Robert Beaven (1836–1920)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1882 election (4th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria City
7		William Smithe (1842–1887)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (4th Leg.)⁠ 1886 election (5th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Cowichan
			Died in office
8		Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (1847–1889)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (5th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Lillooet
			Died in office
9		John Robson (1824–1892)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (5th Leg.)⁠ 1890 election (6th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for New Westminster (until 1890) MLA for Cariboo (from 1890) ({{{riding2_term}}})
			In the 1890 election, he also won the seat in the riding of Westminster, but turned it down. Died in office.
10		Theodore Davie (1852–1898)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (6th Leg.)⁠ 1894 election (7th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Cowichan-Alberni
11		John Herbert Turner (1834–1923)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (7th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria City
12		Charles Augustus Semlin (1836–1927)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1898 election (8th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Yale-West
13		Joseph Martin (1852–1923)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (8th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Vancouver City
			Immediately lost a vote of non-confidence 28-1 upon being appointed, but formed a cabinet and governed for another three months anyway.
14		James Dunsmuir (1851–1920)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1900 election (9th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for South Nanaimo
15		Edward Gawler Prior (1853–1920)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (9th Leg.)		no party affiliation	MLA for Victoria City
			Led final non-partisan administration. Dismissed by the Lieutenant Governor due to charges of conflict of interest that involved giving an important construction contract to his own hardware business. Appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1919.
16		Richard McBride (1870–1917)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (9th Leg.)⁠ 1903 election (10th Leg.)⁠ 1907 election (11th Leg.)⁠ 1909 election (12th Leg.)⁠ 1912 election (13th Leg.)		Conservative Party (Ldr. 1903)	MLA for Westminster-Dewdney (until 1903) MLA for Dewdney (1903–1907) ({{{riding2_term}}}) MLA for Victoria City (from 1907) ({{{riding3_term}}})
			Led first partisan administration (and first Conservative). During First World War, the provincial government purchased and took possession of two submarines to defend the province from the threat of German attack; quickly transferred by order of the federal government to the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1914. Created the province's first university, the University of British Columbia. In the 1907 election he also won the seat in the riding of Dewdney, but turned it down. In the 1909 election he also won the seat in the riding of Yale, but turned it down.
17		William John Bowser (1867–1933)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (13th Leg.)		Conservative Party (Ldr. 1915)	MLA for Vancouver City
18		Harlan Carey Brewster (1870–1918)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1916 election (14th Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 1912)	MLA for Victoria City
			First Liberal premier. Brought in women's suffrage, instituted prohibition, and combatted political corruption. In the 1916 election he also won the seat in the riding of Alberni, but turned it down. Died in office
19		John Oliver (1856–1927)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (14th Leg.)⁠ 1920 election (15th Leg.)⁠ 1924 election (16th Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 1918)	MLA for Dewdney (until 1920) MLA for Victoria City (1920–1924) ({{{riding2_term}}}) MLA for Nelson (from 1924) ({{{riding3_term}}})
			Developed the produce industry in the Okanagan Valley, and tried to persuade the federal government to lower the freight rate for rail transport. In 1923, hosted the visit of Warren Harding to Vancouver, the first ever visit of a sitting United States President to Canada. In the 1920 election he also won the seat in the riding of Delta, but turned it down. Died in office
20		John Duncan MacLean (1873–1948)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (16th Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 1927)	MLA for Yale
21		Simon Fraser Tolmie (1867–1937)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1928 election (17th Leg.)		Conservative Party (Ldr. 1926)	MLA for Saanich
			Last Conservative premier. Attempted to apply "business principles to the business of government" during the Great Depression hit. Unemployment reached 28% – the highest in Canada. Set up relief camps. The Kidd Report recommended such sharp cuts to social services that the Conservative Party split and decided to run no candidates in the 1933 election. Local riding associations that supported Tolmie ran "Unionist" candidates while those supporting former premier Bowser stood "non-partisan" candidates and others ran as Independent Conservatives, resulting in electoral collapse and only 2 Conservative MLAs (one pro-Bowser, one pro-Tolmie) being returned and Tolmie losing his own seat.
22		Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (1873–1956)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1933 election (18th Leg.)⁠ 1937 election (19th Leg.)⁠ 1941 election (20th Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 1929)	MLA for Prince Rupert
			Attempted to extend government services and relief to the unemployed during the Great Depression. Re-elected in 1937 using the slogan "socialized capitalism". Failed to win a majority in 1941 and removed as leader by his party when he was unwilling to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party to keep the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation out of power.
23		John Hart (1879–1957)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (20th Leg.)⁠ 1945 election (21st Leg.)		Liberal Party (Coalition) (Ldr. 1941)	MLA for Victoria City
			Became Liberal leader and premier in order to form a coalition government with the Conservatives, which his predecessor had refused to do, in order to keep the socialist CCF out of power. Undertook an ambitious program of rural electrification, hydroelectric and highway construction. Built Highway 97 to northern British Columbia and relaunched the Bridge River Power Project, which was the province's first major hydroelectric development. Established the BC Power Commission to provide power to smaller communities that were not serviced by private utilities.
24		Boss Johnson (1890–1964)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (21st Leg.)⁠ 1949 election (22nd Leg.)		Liberal Party (Coalition) (Ldr. 1947)	MLA for New Westminster
			Introduced compulsory health insurance, and a 3% provincial sales tax to pay for it, expanded the highway system, extended the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and negotiated the Alcan Agreement, which facilitated construction of the Kenney Dam. Coalition government collapsed when Conservatives left to form the Official Opposition in January 1952, leaving Johnson to lead a straight Liberal government until its defeat in that year's general election.
25		W. A. C. Bennett (1900–1979)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1952 election (23rd Leg.)⁠ 1953 election (24th Leg.)⁠ 1956 election (25th Leg.)⁠ 1960 election (26th Leg.)⁠ 1963 election (27th Leg.)⁠ 1966 election (28th Leg.)⁠ 1969 election (29th Leg.)		Social Credit Party	MLA for South Okanagan
			Longest-serving premier. Oversaw rapid expansion of the province's highway system and BC Rail, creation of BC Ferries, BC Hydro, and the Bank of British Columbia, hydro-electric dam-building projects on the Columbia and Peace Rivers and the creation of the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University.
26		Dave Barrett (1930–2018)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1972 election (30th Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 1970)	MLA for Coquitlam
			First NDP premier. Reformed the welfare system, established the province's Labour Relations Board, and expanded the public sector. Reformed Legislative Assembly by introducing question period and full Hansard transcripts of legislative proceedings. Brought in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) to protect the supply of farm land and Insurance Corporation of British Columbia to provide public car insurance.
27		Bill Bennett (1932–2015)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1975 election (31st Leg.)⁠ 1979 election (32nd Leg.)⁠ 1983 election (33rd Leg.)		Social Credit Party (Ldr. 1973)	MLA for South Okanagan (until 1979) MLA for Okanagan South (from 1979) ({{{riding2_term}}})
			Implemented significant cuts to social services and education and repealed labour laws, resulting in a general strike. Spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Expo 86 and the construction of BC Place, Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system, and the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre. Built the Coquihalla Highway.
28		Bill Vander Zalm (b. 1934)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (33rd Leg.)⁠ 1986 election (34th Leg.)		Social Credit Party (Ldr. 1986)	MLA for Richmond
29		Rita Johnston (b. 1935)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (34th Leg.)		Social Credit Party (Ldr. 1991)	MLA for Surrey-Newton
			First female premier and last Social Credit premier.
30		Mike Harcourt (b. 1943)	27 May 2024	incumbent	1991 election (35th Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 1987)	MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant
31		Glen Clark (b. 1957)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (35th Leg.)⁠ 1996 election (36th Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 1996)	MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway
32		Dan Miller (b. 1944)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (36th Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 1999 (interim))	MLA for North Coast
33		Ujjal Dosanjh (b. 1947)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (36th Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 2000)	MLA for Vancouver-Kensington
34		Gordon Campbell (b. 1948)	27 May 2024	incumbent	2001 election (37th Leg.)⁠ 2005 election (38th Leg.)⁠ 2009 election (39th Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 1993)	MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey
35		Christy Clark (b. 1965)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (39th Leg.)⁠ 2013 election (40th Leg.)⁠ 2017 election (41st Leg.)		Liberal Party (Ldr. 2011)	MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey (until 2013) MLA for Westside-Kelowna (2013–2017) ({{{riding2_term}}}) MLA for Kelowna West (2017) ({{{riding3_term}}})
			Government remained in office after 2017 election until defeated 44–42 on a confidence vote less than a week into the legislative session.
36		John Horgan (b. 1959)	27 May 2024	incumbent	Appointment (41st Leg.)⁠ 2020 election (42nd Leg.)		New Democratic Party (Ldr. 2014)	MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca
			Asked to form a government by the Lieutenant Governor on the strength of a confidence and supply accord between the NDP and the Green Party, after the sitting Liberal government was defeated in the legislature on a confidence vote. Banned corporate and union political donations; initiated a referendum on electoral reform.
Min. Minority government Co. Coalition government

Premiers by region of the province

Location of riding	Number of premiers	Premiers
Interior	12	George Anthony Walkem Alexander Edmund Batson Davie John Robson (1890–1892) Charles Augustus Semlin Richard McBride (1903–1907) John Oliver (1918–1920, 1924–1927) John Duncan MacLean Thomas Dufferin Pattullo W.A.C. Bennett Bill Bennett Dan Miller Christy Clark (2013–2017)
Lower Mainland	5	John Robson (1889–1890) Boss Johnson Dave Barrett Bill Vander Zalm Rita Johnston
Vancouver	7	Joseph Martin William John Bowser Mike Harcourt Glen Clark Ujjal Dosanjh Gordon Campbell Christy Clark (2011–2013)
Vancouver Island	15	John Foster McCreight Amor De Cosmos Andrew Charles Elliott Robert Beaven William Smithe Theodore Davie John Herbert Turner James Dunsmuir Edward Gawler Prior Richard McBride (1907–1915) Harlan Carey Brewster John Oliver (1920–1924) Simon Fraser Tolmie John Hart John Horgan

Living former premiers

As of February 2020, eight former premiers are alive, the oldest being Bill Vander Zalm (1986–1991, born 1934). The most recent former premier to die was Dave Barrett (1972–1975), on February 2, 2018.

Name	Term	Date of birth
Bill Vander Zalm	1986–1991	(1934-05-29) May 29, 1934
Rita Johnston	1991	(1935-04-22) April 22, 1935
Mike Harcourt	1991–1996	(1943-01-06) January 6, 1943
Glen Clark	1996–1999	(1957-11-22) November 22, 1957
Dan Miller	1999–2000	(1944-12-24) December 24, 1944
Ujjal Dosanjh	2000–2001	(1947-09-09) September 9, 1947
Gordon Campbell	2001–2011	(1948-01-12) January 12, 1948
Christy Clark	2011–2017	(1965-10-29) October 29, 1965

See also

• List of Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia
• List of British Columbia premiers by time in office

References

General

• "Premiers of British Columbia, 1871–today". Province of British Columbia. Archived from the original on June 4, 2013. Retrieved April 26, 2011.
• "British Columbia". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 8, 2019.