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1912 British Columbia general election

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1912 British Columbia general election
← 1909 March 28, 1912 1916 →
42 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
22 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
SPC
SDP
Leader Sir Richard McBride
Party Conservative Socialist Social Democratic
Leader's seat Victoria City
Last election 38 2 Did not contest
Seats won 39 1 1
Seat change Increase1 Decrease1 Increase1
Popular vote 50,423 9,366 621
Percentage 59.65% 11.08% 0.74%
Swing Increase7.32pp Decrease0.42pp new
  Fourth party
 
Leader Harlan Carey Brewster
Party Liberal
Last election 2
Seats won 0
Seat change Decrease2
Popular vote 21,443
Percentage 25.37%
Swing Decrease7.84pp
Premier before election

Richard McBride
Conservative

Premier after election

Richard McBride
Conservative

The 1912 British Columbia general election was the thirteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on February 27, 1912, and held on March 28, 1912. The new legislature met for the first time on January 16, 1913.

The governing Conservative Party increased its share of the popular vote to almost 60%, and swept all but 3 of the 42 seats in the legislature. Of the remaining three, one (Harold Ernest Forster in Columbia) was formally listed as an Independent but was a Conservative who had missed the filing date. He campaigned and sat in full support of the McBride government.

The Liberal Party's share of the vote fell from one-third to one-quarter, and it lost both of its seats in the legislature.

The remaining two seats were won by the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party in the coal-mining ridings of Nanaimo City and Newcastle.

Results

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1912)[1]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1909 1912 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Conservative Richard McBride 42 38 39 1Increase 50,423 2,651Decrease 59.65% 7.32Increase
Socialist 17 2 1 1Decrease 9,366 2,299Decrease 11.08% 0.42Decrease
Independent Conservative 7 – 1 1Increase 1,163 1,009Increase 1.37% 1.22Increase
Social Democratic 1 – 1 1Increase 621 621Decrease 0.74% New
Liberal Harlan Carey Brewster 19 2 – 2Decrease 21,433 12,242Decrease 25.37% 7.84Decrease
Independent 2 – – – 1,513 1,112Decrease 1.79% 0.80Decrease
Total 88 42 42 84,529 100.00%
Seats and popular vote by party[1]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Conservative
39 / 42
59.65%
 7.32 7.32
 
█ Liberal
0 / 42
25.37%
 -7.34
 
█ Socialist
1 / 42
11.08%
 -0.42
 
█ Other
2 / 42
3.90%
 0.44 0.44
 

Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected:[2]

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1912 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[3]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1909 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Con Lib Soc I-Con SD Total
 
Alberni Lib Con acclaimed
Atlin Con Con acclaimed
Chilliwhack Con Con acclaimed
Columbia Con I-Con 282 51.74% 19 3.48% 263 – – 282 – 545
Comox Con Con 694 66.16% 339 32.32% 694 – 355 – – 1,049
Cowichan Con Con 441 80.04% 331 60.08% 441 110 – – – 551
Cranbrook Con Con acclaimed
Delta Con Con 748 70.83% 440 41.66% 748 308 – – – 1,056
Dewdney Con Con 803 80.54% 609 61.08% 803 – – 194 – 997
Esquimalt Lib Con 398 46.50% 212 24.77% 398 151 25 282[a 1] – 856
Fernie Con Con 1,067 58.31% 304 16.62% 1,067 – 763 – – 1,830
Grand Forks Con Con acclaimed
Greenwood Con Con 364 78.11% 262 56.22% 364 – 102 – – 466
The Islands Con Con 345 75.66% 234 51.32% 345 – – 111 – 456
Kamloops Con Con 931 70.11% 534 40.22% 931 397 – – – 1,328
Kaslo Con Con acclaimed
Lillooet Con Con 200 71.17% 119 42.34% 200 81 – – – 281
Nanaimo City Soc SD 621 39.45% 43 2.73% 578 375 – – 621 1,574
Nelson City Con Con 527 59.08% 339 38.00% 527 – 177 188 – 892
Newcastle Soc Soc 386 50.86% 13 1.72% 373 – 386 – – 759
New Westminster City Con Con 1,004 72.28% 619 44.56% 1,004 385 – – – 1,389
Okanagan Con Con 1,388 82.37% 1,091 64.74% 1,388 – 297 – – 1,685
Revelstoke Con Con acclaimed
Richmond Con Con acclaimed
Rossland City Con Con 336 56.09% 168 28.04% 336 168 95 – – 599
Saanich Con Con 392 69.01% 216 38.02% 392 176 – – – 568
Similkameen Con Con acclaimed
Skeena Con Con 940 51.00% 420 22.79% 940 520 277 106 – 1,843
Slocan Con Con 373 65.32% 175 30.64% 373 – 198 – – 571
Yale Con Con 524 65.26% 245 30.52% 524 279 – – – 803
Ymir Con Con 1,024 79.69% 763 59.38% 1,024 – 261 – – 1,285
  1. ^ The incumbent John Jardine received 96 votes
  = 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 - 1912 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[3]
Party Cariboo Vancouver City Victoria City
Votes Share Change Votes Share Change Votes Share Change
Conservative 645 77.99% 14.98% 25,338 54.74% 4.64% 10,727 66.90% 13.48%
Liberal 182 22.01% -14.98% 14,283 30.86% -5.42% 4,028 25.12% -6.57%
Socialist – – – 5,767 12.46% -1.16% 663 4.13% 0.72%
Independent – – – 897 1.94% 1.94% 616 3.84% -7.64%
Total 827 100.00% 46,285 100.00% 16,034 100.00%
Seats won
  2
  5
  4
Incumbents returned 2 5 4
Seat change – – –

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 109, 115.
  2. ^ Elections BC 1988, pp. 117–119.
  3. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 111–113, 117–119.

Further reading & references

  • In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.
  • Hopkins, J. Castell (1913). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1912. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.
  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
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