Victoria (British Columbia provincial electoral district)

Victoria was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and was one of the first twelve ridings at the time of that province's joining Confederation in 1871 and stayed on the hustings until 1890. From 1894 to 1963 it did not appear on the electoral map. During that period the Victoria area was represented by North Victoria, South Victoria, Saanich, Esquimalt, Oak Bay and Victoria City. In 1966 the old Victoria City riding was redistributed and given the name of the old "rural" riding, Victoria.

Demographics

Population, 1961
Population change, 1871–1961
Area (km2)
Population density (people per km2)

Notable MLAs

• Amor De Cosmos, 2nd Premier of British Columbia

Electoral history

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

1st British Columbia election, 1871

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Arthur Bunster	123	32.63%		unknown
	Independent	William Dalby	103	27.32%		unknown
	Independent	Amor De Cosmos	151	40.05%		unknown
Total valid votes			377	100.00%

British Columbia Byelection: Victoria, November 26, 1874 ¹

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	William Dalby	97	21.90%		unknown
	Independent	Charles William Horth	25	5.64%		unknown
	Independent	James Thomas McIlmoyl	72	16.25%		unknown
	Independent	William Archibald Robertson	108	24.38%		unknown
	Independent	William Fraser Tolmie	141	31.83%		unknown
Total valid votes			443	100.00%
1 The byelection was due to resignations February 9, 1874 of A. Bunster and A. De Cosmos upon winning seats in the federal election January 22, 1874 (in Vancouver and Victoria federal ridings, respectively).

1875 British Columbia general election: Victoria
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Reform caucus	Thomas Basil Humphreys	89	33.58	Y
	Reform caucus	William Fraser Tolmie	65	24.53	Y
	Independent	William Reay	51	19.25
	Independent	Noah Shakespeare	48	18.11
	Independent	Michael Baker	12	4.53
Total valid votes			265	100.00

1878 British Columbia general election: Victoria
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Opposition	James Thomas McIlmoyl	102	20.06	Y
	Opposition	Thomas Basil Humphreys	99	32.04	Y
	Reform caucus	William Fraser Tolmie	62	20.06
	Independent	Thomas Lee	46	14.89
Total valid votes			309	100.00

British Columbia Byelection: Victoria July 10, 1878²

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Thomas Basil Humphreys	Acclaimed	-.- %		unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
2 The byelection was called due to Humphreys' resignation upon appointment to the Executive Council (cabinet) upon his appointment to the Executive Council (cabinet) June 26, 1878. This byelection was one of a series held to confirm appointments to the Executive Council, which was the old parliamentary convention. As this byelection writ was filled by acclamation, no polling day was required and the seat was filled within two weeks. The stated date is the date the return of writs was received by the Chief Electoral Officer.

4th British Columbia election, 1882

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	Thomas Basil Humphreys	100	25.71%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Robert Franklin John	110	28.28%	–	unknown
	Government	James Thomas McIlmoyl	66	16.97%	–	unknown
	Opposition	George Archibald McTavish	113	29.05%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			389

5th British Columbia election, 1886

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	George William Anderson	134	27.07%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Thomas Basil Humphreys	113	22.83%	–	unknown
	Government	Robert Franklin John	166	33.53%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Watts Sluggett	82	16.57%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			495	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

6th British Columbia election, 1890

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	George William Anderson	530	52.28%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Joseph Westrop Carey	115	24.89%	–	unknown
	Government	David McEwen Eberts	176	38.10%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			462	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

For the 1894 election the Victoria riding was redistributed into North Victoria and South Victoria. The Victoria riding name did not reappear until the 1966 election. As before, it was a two-member seat:

28th British Columbia election, 1966

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Harold Tuttle Alan	5,304	11.70%		unknown
	New Democratic	Dorcas Blair	5,175	11.42%		unknown
	Social Credit	William Neelands Chant	13,068	28.84%	–	unknown
	Communist	Ernest Leon Knott	241	0.53%		unknown
	Liberal	John W. Porteus	4,774	10.54%		unknown
	Liberal	Frank D. Preston	4,597	10.14%		unknown
	Social Credit	Waldo McTavish Skillings	12,156	26.83%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			45,315	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			264
Turnout			%

29th British Columbia election, 1969

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Peter G. Bunn	8,517	14.70%		unknown
	Social Credit	William Neelands Chant	15,899	27.43%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Mel Couvelier	4,497	7.76%		unknown
	New Democratic	James Philip Fawcett	8,006	13.81%		unknown
	Independent	William Alfred Scott	259	0.45%		unknown
	Social Credit	Waldo McTavish Skillings	15,443	26.65%	–	unknown
	Liberal	Ian Hugh Stewart	5,334	9.20%		unknown
Total valid votes			57,955	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			496
Turnout			%

30th British Columbia election, 1972

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	David Alexander Anderson	10,750	16.00%		unknown
	Conservative	Edith Rose Sophia Gunning	7,843	11.67%		unknown
	New Democratic	John David Hobson	6,887	10.25%		unknown
	Liberal	Carron Baker Jameson	7,436	11.07%
	Social Credit	Newell Orrin Ruston Morrison	10,840	16.14%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Kathleen Ruff	6,981	10.39%		unknown
	Conservative	Albert Clyde Savage	6,218	9.26%		unknown
	Social Credit	Waldo McTavish Skillings	10,227	15.22%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			67,182	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			497
Turnout			%

31st British Columbia election, 1975

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	David Alexander Anderson	6,677	9.25 %		unknown
	New Democratic	Charles Frederick Barber	14,645	20.30 %		unknown
	Social Credit	Robert Samuel Bawlf	15,143	20.99%	–	unknown
	Conservative	William Loyd Burdon	2,558	3.55%		unknown
	New Democratic	Gordon William Hanson	13,970	19.36%		unknown
	Independent	Richard Owen Kavanagh	148	0.21%		unknown
	Liberal	Terence Pitt O'Grady	3,102	4.30%
	Social Credit	Ian Douglas Rendle	13,374	18.54%	–	unknown
	Independent	William Alfred Scott	349	0.48%		unknown
	Conservative	Peter Bruce Stanley	2,179	3.02%		unknown
Total valid votes			72,145	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			691
Turnout			%

32nd British Columbia election, 1979

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Charles Frederick Barber	22,700	28.26%		unknown
	Social Credit	Robert Samuel Bawlf	17,002	21.16%	–	unknown
	Western Independence	Michael Edward Easton	275	0.34%		unknown
	New Democratic	Gordon William Hanson	20,226	25.18%		unknown
	Conservative	Jack Lindsay	2,195	2.73%		unknown
	Conservative	Margaret M. (Maggi) Lynn	2,018	2.51%		unknown
	Social Credit	Michael Dalway Watson (Mike) Young	15,923	19.82%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			80,339	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			1,107
Turnout			%

33rd British Columbia election, 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Robin Kyle Blencoe	23,787	28.62%		unknown
	Social Credit	Joe Easingwood	15,971	19.22%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Gordon William Hanson	23,877	28.73%		unknown
	Independent	Balther Johannes Jensen	406	0.49%		unknown
	Liberal	[Victor Evan Lindal	1,158	1.39%		unknown
	Liberal	[[William John McElroy	1,271	1.53%		unknown
	Independent	David Michael Shebib	242	0.29%		unknown
	Social Credit	John McGrath Townson	15,352	18.47%	–	unknown
	Western Canada Concept	Alice Mary (Alyson) Umpherson	1,048	1.26%		unknown
Total valid votes			83,112	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			610
Turnout			%

34th British Columbia election, 1986

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	David C. Bibby	2,257	2.82%		unknown
	New Democratic	Robin Kyle Blencoe	21,320	26.64%		unknown
	New Democratic	Gordon William Hanson	21,395	26.74%		unknown
	Independent	Balther Johannes Jensen	215	0.27%		unknown
	Liberal	Tom W. Morino	2,235	2.79%		unknown
	Green	[Laura Kathryn Porcher	693	0.87%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Roger W. Skillings	16,132	20.16%	–	unknown
	Social Credit	Paul Yewchuck	15,776	19.71%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			80,023	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			748
Turnout			%

Sources

Elections BC Historical Returns