1945 British Columbia general election

1945 British Columbia general election

October 25, 1945
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   CCF 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 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 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 over half of the votes, and was able to form a majority government.

Results

Party			Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
					1941	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal	Coalition1	John Hart	47	33	37	+12.1%	261,147	55.83%	-8.02%
	Progressive Conservative		Royal Lethington Maitland
	Co-operative Commonwealth fed.		Harold Winch	48	14	10	-28.6%	175,960	37.62%	+4.26%
	Labour		Tom Uphill	1	1	1	-	1,289	0.28%	-1.29%
	Labor-Progressive			21	*	-	*	16,479	3.52%	*
	Social Credit (alliance)2			16	*	-	*	6,627	1.42%	*
	People's CCF			2	*	-	*	2,786	0.60%	*
	Independent3			2	-	-	-	1,532	0.33%	-0.03%
	Independent Progressive Conservative4			2	*	-	*	748	0.16%	*
	Democratic			1	*	-	*	423	0.09%	*
	Socialist Labour			3	-	-	-	285	0.06%	-0.09%
	Independent Liberal			1	*	-	*	199	0.04%	*
	Independent Labour			1	*	-	*	106	0.02%	*
	Socialist			1	*	-	*	105	0.02%	*
	Progressive Liberal			1	*	-	*	61	0.01%	*
Total				147	48	48	-	467,747	100%
Source: Elections BC

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ Compared to Liberal + Conservative total from previous election

² Various groups joined forces under the Social Credit name to contest the election.

³ Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (Prince Rupert), former premier and Liberal Party leader, ran as an Independent, and is included as such.

⁴ Includes L.H. MacQueen (Saanich), classified as an Independent PC since the Progressive Conservative Party, formerly the Conservative Party, was officially running as part of the Coalition and did not consider MacQueen as a legitimate party candidate.

Popular vote Coalition   55.83% CCF   37.62% Labour   0.28% Others   6.27%

Seats summary Coalition   77.08% CCF   20.83% Labour   2.08%

Results by riding

Results of British Columbia general election, 1945
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
	James Mowat	Alberni Coalition			Burnaby Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Ernest Edward Winch
	William Duncan Smith	Atlin Coalition			Cowichan-Newcastle Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Samuel Guthrie
	Louis LeBourdais	Cariboo Coalition			Fort George Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	John McInnis
	Leslie Harvey Eyres	Chilliwack Coalition			Kaslo-Slocan Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Randolph Harding
	Thomas King	Columbia Coalition			Mackenzie Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Herbert Gargrave
	Herbert John Welch	Comox Coalition			Omineca Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Edward Fraser Rowland
	Frank William Green	Cranbrook Coalition			Peace River Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Joseph Hardcastle Corsbie
	Alexander Campbell Hope	Delta Coalition			Prince Rupert Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	William Henry Brett
	Roderick Charles MacDonald	Dewdney Coalition			Vancouver East Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Arthur James Turner
	Charles Taschereau Beard	Esquimalt Coalition				Harold Edward Winch2
	Thomas Alfred Love	Grand Forks-Greenwood Coalition			Fernie Labour (Independent)	Tom Uphill
	Robert Henry Carson	Kamloops Coalition
	Ernest Crawford Carson	Lillooet Coalition
	George Sharratt Pearson	Nanaimo and the Islands Coalition
	Frank Putnam	Nelson-Creston Coalition
	Byron Ingemar Johnson	New Westminster Coalition
	Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald	North Okanagan Coalition
	John Henry Cates	North Vancouver Coalition
	Herbert Anscomb	Oak Bay Coalition
	William James Johnson	Revelstoke Coalition
	James Lockhart Webster	Rossland-Trail Coalition
	Norman William Whittaker	Saanich Coalition
	Arthur Brown Ritchie	Salmon Arm Coalition
	Reginald Robert Laird	Similkameen Coalition
	Edward Tourtellotte Kenney	Skeena Coalition
	William Andrew Cecil Bennett	South Okanagan Coalition
	Donald Cameron Brown	Vancouver-Burrard Coalition
	George Moir Weir
	Allan James MacDonell	Vancouver Centre Coalition
	Gordon Sylvester Wismer
	Royal Lethington Maitland	Vancouver-Point Grey Coalition
	James Alexander Paton
	Tilly Rolston
	John Hart	Victoria City Coalition
	Nancy Hodges
	William Thomas Straith
	John Joseph Alban Gillis	Yale Coalition
	1 Premier-Elect and Incumbent
	2 Leader of the Opposition
Source: Elections BC

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties