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.
October 25, 1945 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A centre-right coalition was formed by the Liberal and Conservative (now called the Progressive 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 more than half of the votes, captured more than half the seats, and formed a majority government.
Results
| Political party | Party leader | MLAs | Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | 1941 | 1945 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) | |||
| Coalition | John Hart Royal Maitland | 47 | 32 | 37 | 5 | 261,147 | 26,979 | 55.83 | 7.65 | |
| Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) | Harold Winch | 48 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 175,960 | 24,520 | 37.62 | 4.26 | |
| Labour (all factions) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1,395 | 5,746 | 0.30 | 1.27 | |||
| Liberal | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1,681 | – | Changed allegiance | ||
| Labor-Progressive Party (LPP) | 21 | – | – | – | 16,479 | 16,479 | 3.52 | New | ||
| Social Credit (alliance) | 16 | – | – | – | 6,627 | 6,627 | 1.42 | New | ||
| People's CCF | 2 | – | – | – | 2,786 | 2,786 | 0.60 | New | ||
| Independent | 2 | – | – | – | 1,532 | 106 | 0.33 | 0.03 | ||
| Independent PC | 2 | – | – | – | 748 | 748 | 0.16 | New | ||
| Democratic | 1 | – | – | – | 423 | 423 | 0.09 | New | ||
| Socialist Labor | 3 | – | – | – | 285 | 398 | 0.06 | 0.09 | ||
| Independent Liberal | 1 | – | – | – | 199 | 199 | 0.04 | New | ||
| Socialist | 1 | – | – | – | 105 | 105 | 0.02 | New | ||
| Progressive Liberal | 1 | – | – | – | 61 | 61 | 0.01 | New | ||
| Total | 147 | 48 | 48 | 467,747 | 100.00% | |||||
| Rejected ballots | 3,899 | 898 | ||||||||
| Actual voters who voted | 298,387 | 5,514 | 62.66% | 10.07 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 476,222 | 58,383 | ||||||||
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| █ Coalition | 37 / 48 | -7.65 | |||
| █ Co-operative Commonwealth | 10 / 48 | 4.26 | |||
| █ Labor-Progressive | 0 / 48 | 3.52 | |||
| █ Social Credit | 0 / 48 | 1.42 | |||
| █ Other | 1 / 48 | -1.55 | |||
MLAs elected
| Alberni: James Mowat Atlin: William Duncan Smith Burnaby: Ernest Winch Cariboo: Louis LeBourdais Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres Columbia: Thomas King Comox: Herbert John Welch Cowichan-Newcastle: Samuel Guthrie Cranbrook: Frank William Green Delta: Alexander Campbell Hope Dewdney: Roderick Charles MacDonald Esquimalt: Charles Taschereau Beard Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill (ILP) Fort George: John McInnis Grand Forks-Greenwood: Thomas Alfred Love Kamloops: Robert Henry Carson | Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson Mackenzie: Herbert Gargrave Nanaimo and the Islands: George Sharratt Pearson Nelson-Creston: Frank Putnam New Westminster: Boss Johnson North Okanagan: K. C. MacDonald North Vancouver: John Henry Cates Oak Bay: Herbert Anscomb Omineca: Edward Fraser Rowland Peace River: Joseph Hardcastle Corsbie Prince Rupert: William Henry Brett Revelstoke: William James Johnson Rossland-Trail: James Lockhart Webster Saanich: Norman William Whittaker Salmon Arm: Arthur Brown Ritchie | Similkameen: Reginald Robert Laird Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett Vancouver-Burrard: Donald Cameron Brown Vancouver-Burrard: George Moir Weir Vancouver Centre: Allan James McDonell Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner Vancouver East: Harold Winch Vancouver-Point Grey: Royal Maitland Vancouver-Point Grey: James Alexander Paton Vancouver-Point Grey: Tilly Rolston Victoria City: John Hart Victoria City: Nancy Hodges Victoria City: William Thomas Straith Yale: John J. Gillis
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Synopsis of results
| Riding | Winning party | Votes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 1941 | Party | Votes | Share | Margin # | Margin % | Coal | CCF | LPP | SC | Ind | Oth | Total | ||
| Alberni | Lib | Coal | 2,135 | 54.02% | 877 | 22.19% | 2,135 | 1,258 | 559 | – | – | – | 3,952 | ||
| Atlin | Lib | Coal | 297 | 50.42% | 5 | 0.84% | 297 | 292 | – | – | – | – | 589 | ||
| Burnaby | CCF | CCF | 5,905 | 50.56% | 1,172 | 10.04% | 4,733 | 5,905 | 744 | 298 | – | – | 11,680 | ||
| Cariboo | Lib | Coal | 1,370 | 57.93% | 375 | 15.86% | 1,370 | 995 | – | – | – | – | 2,365 | ||
| Chilliwack | Con | Coal | 3,804 | 62.37% | 1,509 | 24.74% | 3,804 | 2,295 | – | – | – | – | 6,099 | ||
| Columbia | Lib | Coal | 671 | 53.30% | 83 | 6.60% | 671 | 588 | – | – | – | – | 1,259 | ||
| Comox | CCF | Coal | 3,432 | 45.62% | 70 | 0.93% | 3,432 | 3,362 | 729 | – | – | – | 7,523 | ||
| Cowichan-Newcastle | CCF | CCF | 3,768 | 55.33% | 726 | 10.66% | 3,042 | 3,768 | – | – | – | – | 6,810 | ||
| Cranbrook | Con | Coal | 2,077 | 49.04% | 112 | 2.64% | 2,077 | 1,965 | 193 | – | – | – | 4,235 | ||
| Delta | CCF | Coal | 5,859 | 53.64% | 796 | 7.28% | 5,859 | 5,063 | – | – | – | – | 10,922 | ||
| Dewdney | Con | Coal | 4,586 | 53.71% | 633 | 7.42% | 4,586 | 3,953 | – | – | – | – | 8,539 | ||
| Esquimalt | Con | Coal | 2,568 | 56.35% | 579 | 12.70% | 2,568 | 1,989 | – | – | – | – | 4,557 | ||
| Fernie | Lab | Lab | 1,289 | 42.28% | 271 | 8.89% | 1,018 | 742 | – | – | – | 1,289 | 3,049 | ||
| Fort George | Lib | CCF | 1,726 | 55.73% | 355 | 11.46% | 1,371 | 1,726 | – | – | – | – | 3,097 | ||
| Grand Forks-Greenwood | Con | Coal | 707 | 52.06% | 246 | 18.11% | 707 | 461 | 84 | – | – | 106 | 1,358 | ||
| Kamloops | Lib | Coal | 2,804 | 57.78% | 911 | 18.77% | 2,804 | 1,893 | 156 | – | – | – | 4,853 | ||
| Kaslo-Slocan | Lib | CCF | 1,098 | 53.12% | 129 | 6.24% | 969 | 1,098 | – | – | – | – | 2,067 | ||
| Lillooet | Con | Coal | 1,143 | 51.42% | 320 | 14.40% | 1,143 | 823 | – | 196 | – | 61 | 2,233 | ||
| Mackenzie | CCF | CCF | 2,961 | 52.19% | 648 | 11.42% | 2,313 | 2,961 | 293 | 106 | – | – | 5,673 | ||
| Nanaimo and the Islands | Lib | Coal | 3,124 | 54.24% | 577 | 10.02% | 3,124 | 2,547 | – | 89 | – | – | 5,760 | ||
| Nelson-Creston | Lib | Coal | 3,055 | 58.59% | 1,806 | 34.64% | 3,055 | 1,249 | – | – | 184 | 726 | 5,214 | ||
| New Westminster | Lib | Coal | 4,900 | 57.91% | 1,933 | 22.85% | 4,900 | 2,967 | 595 | – | – | – | 8,462 | ||
| North Okanagan | Lib | Coal | 2,990 | 59.78% | 1,408 | 28.15% | 2,990 | 1,582 | – | 430 | – | – | 5,002 | ||
| North Vancouver | CCF | Coal | 5,912 | 54.20% | 1,842 | 16.89% | 5,912 | 4,070 | 646 | 280 | – | – | 10,908 | ||
| Oak Bay | Con | Coal | 4,598 | 82.31% | 3,610 | 64.62% | 4,598 | 988 | – | – | – | – | 5,586 | ||
| Omineca | Lib | CCF | 932 | 51.58% | 57 | 3.16% | 875 | 932 | – | – | – | – | 1,807 | ||
| Peace River | Lib | CCF | 1,682 | 47.85% | 565 | 16.07% | 1,117 | 1,682 | – | 716 | – | – | 3,515 | ||
| Prince Rupert | Lib | CCF | 1,873 | 49.83% | 525 | 13.97% | – | 1,873 | 538 | – | 1,348 | – | 3,759 | ||
| Revelstoke | Lib | Coal | 1,089 | 51.17% | 50 | 2.34% | 1,089 | 1,039 | – | – | – | – | 2,128 | ||
| Rossland-Trail | CCF | Coal | 3,171 | 49.35% | 1,111 | 17.29% | 3,171 | 933 | – | 261 | – | 2,060 | 6,425 | ||
| Saanich | Lib | Coal | 5,414 | 57.85% | 1,983 | 21.19% | 5,414 | 3,431 | 239 | – | – | 275 | 9,359 | ||
| Salmon Arm | Con | Coal | 1,560 | 60.00% | 520 | 20.00% | 1,560 | 1,040 | – | – | – | – | 2,600 | ||
| Similkameen | CCF | Coal | 3,447 | 57.09% | 856 | 14.18% | 3,447 | 2,591 | – | – | – | – | 6,038 | ||
| Skeena | Lib | Coal | 901 | 58.7% | 267 | 17.40% | 901 | 634 | – | – | – | – | 1,535 | ||
| South Okanagan | Con | Coal | 3,706 | 64.25% | 1,644 | 28.50% | 3,706 | 2,062 | – | – | – | – | 5,768 | ||
| Yale | Lib | Coal | 1,077 | 66.77% | 541 | 33.54% | 1,077 | 536 | – | – | – | – | 1,613 | ||
- = 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
| Riding | Winning party | Votes | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | MLAs | 1941 | 1945 | Coal | CCF | LPP | SC | Ind | Oth | Total |
| Vancouver-Burrard | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29,649 | 20,221 | 2,030 | 1,219 | – | 107 | 53,226 |
| Vancouver Centre | 2 | 2 | 2 | 21,854 | 15,000 | 3,967 | 959 | – | 426 | 42,206 |
| Vancouver East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18,980 | 25,721 | 2,798 | 705 | – | 56 | 48,260 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | 3 | 3 | 3 | 67,276 | 26,859 | 2,472 | 625 | – | 423 | 97,655 |
| Victoria City | 3 | 3 | 3 | 31,553 | 16,866 | 436 | 743 | – | 473 | 50,071 |
See also
- List of British Columbia political parties
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