The 1949 British Columbia general election was the 22nd 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 April 16, 1949, and held on June 15, 1949. The new legislature met for the first time on February 14, 1950.
June 15, 1949 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
48 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 25 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The centre-right coalition formed by the Liberal and Conservative parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1945 election increased its share of the vote and its majority in the legislature.
Three different social credit groupings nominated or endorsed candidates in the election: the Social Credit Party, the Social Credit League, and the Union of Electors.
Results
| Political party | Party leader | MLAs | Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | 1945 | 1949 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) | |||
| Coalition | Boss Johnson Herbert Anscomb | 48 | 37 | 39 | 2 | 428,773 | 167,626 | 61.35 | 5.52 | |
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Harold Winch | 48 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 245,284 | 69,324 | 35.10 | 2.52 | |
| Labour | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1,483 | 88 | 0.21 | 0.09 | |||
| Independent | 7 | – | 1 | 1 | 5,163 | 3,631 | 0.74 | 0.41 | ||
| Social Credit alliance split | ||||||||||
| █ Social Credit League | 9 | – | – | – | 7,112 | 1.02 | ||||
| █ Social Credit | 7 | – | – | – | 4,424 | 0.63 | ||||
| █ Union of Electors | 12 | – | – | – | 2,790 | 0.40 | ||||
| Social Credit total | 14,326 | 7,699 | 2.05 | 0.63 | ||||||
| Labor-Progressive | 2 | – | – | – | 1,660 | 14,819 | 0.24 | 3.28 | ||
| Independent Conservative | 1 | – | – | – | 1,241 | 1,241 | 0.18 | New | ||
| People's CCF | 1 | – | – | – | 470 | 2,316 | 0.07 | 0.53 | ||
| Socialist Labor | 1 | – | – | – | 286 | 1 | 0.04 | 0.02 | ||
| People's Party of BC | 1 | – | – | – | 137 | 137 | 0.02 | New | ||
| Total | 138 | 48 | 48 | 698,823 | 100.00% | |||||
| Rejected ballots | 9,891 | 5,992 | ||||||||
| Actual voters who voted | 477,999 | 179,612 | 73.64% | 10.98 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 649,019 | 172,797 | ||||||||
- Elections BC summary table tabulation errors corrected for SCP and SCL
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| █ Coalition | 39 / 48 | 5.52 | |||
| █ Co-operative Commonwealth | 7 / 48 | -2.52 | |||
| █ Social Credit | 0 / 48 | 0.63 | |||
| █ Labor-Progressive | 0 / 48 | -3.28 | |||
| █ Other | 2 / 48 | -0.35 | |||
MLAs elected
| Alberni: James Mowat Atlin: Frank Calder Burnaby: Ernest Winch Cariboo: Angus MacLean Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres Columbia: Thomas King Comox: Herbert John Welch Cowichan-Newcastle: Andrew Mowatt Whisker Cranbrook: Leo Nimsick Delta: Alexander Campbell Hope Dewdney: Roderick Charles MacDonald Esquimalt: Charles Taschereau Beard Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill Fort George: Henry Robson Bowman Grand Forks-Greenwood: Rupert Haggen Kamloops: Sidney John Smith | Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson Mackenzie: B. Milton MacIntyre Nanaimo and the Islands: George Sharratt Pearson Nelson-Creston: Walter Hendricks New Westminster: Boss Johnson North Okanagan: Charles William Morrow North Vancouver: John Henry Cates Oak Bay: Herbert Anscomb Omineca: Robert Cecil Steele Peace River: Glen Everton Braden Prince Rupert: John Duncan McRae Revelstoke: Arvid Lundell Rossland-Trail: Alexander Douglas Turnbull Saanich: Arthur James Richard Ash Salmon Arm: Arthur Brown Ritchie | Similkameen: Maurice Finnerty Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett Vancouver-Burrard: Donald Cameron Brown Vancouver-Burrard: John Groves Gould Vancouver Centre: Allan James McDonell Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner Vancouver East: Harold Winch Vancouver-Point Grey: Albert Reginald MacDougall Vancouver-Point Grey: Tilly Rolston Vancouver-Point Grey: Leigh Stevenson Victoria City: Nancy Hodges Victoria City: Daniel John Proudfoot Victoria City: William Thomas Straith Yale: John J. Gillis
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Synopsis of results
| Riding | Winning party | Votes | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | 1945 | Party | Votes | Share | Margin # | Margin % | Coal | CCF | SCP | SCL | UoE | Ind | Oth | Total | ||
| Alberni | Coal | Ind | 3,290 | 42.84% | 1,161 | 15.12% | 1,638 | 2,129 | – | – | – | 3,290 | 622 | 7,679 | ||
| Atlin | Coal | CCF | 376 | 50.40% | 6 | 0.80% | 370 | 376 | – | – | – | – | – | 746 | ||
| Burnaby | CCF | CCF | 11,025 | 50.90% | 1,044 | 4.82% | 9,981 | 11,025 | – | 655 | – | – | – | 21,661 | ||
| Cariboo | Coal | Coal | 2,653 | 66.88% | 1,339 | 33.76% | 2,653 | 1,314 | – | – | – | – | – | 3,967 | ||
| Chilliwack | Coal | Coal | 6,847 | 57.17% | 4,135 | 34.52% | 6,847 | 2,712 | – | 2,417 | – | – | – | 11,976 | ||
| Columbia | Coal | Coal | 1,288 | 68.91% | 707 | 37.82% | 1,288 | 581 | – | – | – | – | – | 1,869 | ||
| Comox | Coal | Coal | 7,596 | 59.19% | 2,358 | 18.38% | 7,596 | 5,238 | – | – | – | – | – | 12,834 | ||
| Cowichan-Newcastle | CCF | Coal | 5,505 | 56.19% | 1,311 | 13.38% | 5,505 | 4,194 | – | – | 38 | 60 | – | 9,797 | ||
| Cranbrook | Coal | CCF | 3,026 | 50.53% | 63 | 1.06% | 2,963 | 3,026 | – | – | – | – | – | 5,989 | ||
| Delta | Coal | Coal | 12,203 | 49.59% | 1,093 | 4.44% | 12,203 | 11,110 | 1,293 | – | – | – | – | 24,606 | ||
| Dewdney | Coal | Coal | 8,127 | 49.08% | 523 | 3.16% | 8,127 | 7,604 | – | 829 | – | – | – | 16,560 | ||
| Esquimalt | Coal | Coal | 4,219 | 51.26% | 1,731 | 21.03% | 4,219 | 2,488 | – | – | 92 | 191 | 1,241 | 8,231 | ||
| Fernie | Lab | Lab | 1,483 | 39.09% | 9 | 0.24% | 1,474 | 837 | – | – | – | – | 1,483 | 3,794 | ||
| Fort George | CCF | Coal | 3,232 | 59.86% | 1,065 | 19.72% | 3,232 | 2,167 | – | – | – | – | – | 5,399 | ||
| Grand Forks-Greenwood | Coal | CCF | 922 | 44.14% | 49 | 2.35% | 873 | 922 | – | – | – | 294 | – | 2,089 | ||
| Kamloops | Coal | Coal | 4,992 | 64.47% | 2,241 | 28.94% | 4,992 | 2,751 | – | – | – | – | – | 7,743 | ||
| Kaslo-Slocan | CCF | CCF | 1,633 | 53.19% | 196 | 6.38% | 1,437 | 1,633 | – | – | – | – | – | 3,070 | ||
| Lillooet | Coal | Coal | 2,339 | 62.83% | 1,159 | 31.14% | 2,339 | 1,180 | – | – | – | 204 | – | 3,723 | ||
| Mackenzie | CCF | Coal | 5,787 | 55.57% | 1,161 | 11.14% | 5,787 | 4,626 | – | – | – | – | – | 10,413 | ||
| Nanaimo and the Islands | Coal | Coal | 5,860 | 61.50% | 2,296 | 24.09% | 5,860 | 3,564 | – | – | 104 | – | – | 9,528 | ||
| Nelson-Creston | Coal | Coal | 4,783 | 60.04% | 2,108 | 26.46% | 4,783 | 2,675 | – | 508 | – | – | – | 7,966 | ||
| New Westminster | Coal | Coal | 7,969 | 61.57% | 3,460 | 26.73% | 7,969 | 4,509 | 328 | – | – | – | 137 | 12,943 | ||
| North Okanagan | Coal | Coal | 4,966 | 60.95% | 2,309 | 28.34% | 4,966 | 2,657 | 525 | – | – | – | – | 8,148 | ||
| North Vancouver | Coal | Coal | 12,586 | 69.57% | 7,082 | 39.14% | 12,586 | 5,504 | – | – | – | – | – | 18,090 | ||
| Oak Bay | Coal | Coal | 5,918 | 84.21% | 5,028 | 71.55% | 5,918 | 890 | – | – | 220 | – | – | 7,028 | ||
| Omineca | CCF | Coal | 1,885 | 61.60% | 710 | 23.20% | 1,885 | 1,175 | – | – | – | – | – | 3,060 | ||
| Peace River | CCF | Coal | 2,342 | 49.69% | 441 | 9.35% | 2,342 | 1,901 | – | – | – | – | 470 | 4,713 | ||
| Prince Rupert | CCF | Coal | 2,971 | 56.41% | 675 | 12.82% | 2,971 | 2,296 | – | – | – | – | – | 5,267 | ||
| Revelstoke | Coal | Coal | 1,311 | 50.95% | 49 | 1.90% | 1,311 | 1,262 | – | – | – | – | – | 2,573 | ||
| Rossland-Trail | Coal | Coal | 5,910 | 56.30% | 1,322 | 12.60% | 5,910 | 4,588 | – | – | – | – | – | 10,498 | ||
| Saanich | Coal | Coal | 9,998 | 66.14% | 5,352 | 35.41% | 9,998 | 4,646 | – | – | 473 | – | – | 15,117 | ||
| Salmon Arm | Coal | Coal | 2,529 | 60.07% | 848 | 20.14% | 2,529 | 1,681 | – | – | – | – | – | 4,210 | ||
| Similkameen | Coal | Coal | 5,744 | 58.78% | 1,716 | 17.56% | 5,744 | 4,028 | – | – | – | – | – | 9,772 | ||
| Skeena | Coal | Coal | 2,048 | 73.20% | 1,298 | 46.40% | 2,048 | 750 | – | – | – | – | – | 2,798 | ||
| South Okanagan | Coal | Coal | 6,555 | 58.40% | 1,886 | 16.80% | 6,555 | 4,669 | – | – | – | – | – | 11,224 | ||
| Yale | Coal | Coal | 1,407 | 46.90% | 542 | 18.07% | 1,407 | 865 | – | – | – | 728 | – | 3,000 | ||
- W. A. C. Bennett had resigned in 1948 to contest the federal byelection in Yale, which he lost. In the interim, Bob Browne-Clayton was elected for the Coalition in the provincial byelection, but Bennett returned for the general election.
- = 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
- = part of 1945 Social Credit alliance
- = multiple candidates
| Riding | Winning party | Votes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | MLAs | 1945 | 1949 | Coal | CCF | SCP | SCL | UoE | Ind | Oth | Total |
| Vancouver-Burrard | 2 | 2 | 2 | 40,156 | 21,774 | 1,258 | – | 95 | 396 | – | 63,679 |
| Vancouver Centre | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29,171 | 17,969 | – | 814 | – | – | 286 | 48,240 |
| Vancouver East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 34,077 | 39,815 | 1,020 | – | 109 | – | 1,038 | 76,059 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | 3 | 3 | 3 | 109,782 | 35,134 | – | 1,889 | 280 | – | – | 147,085 |
| Victoria City | 3 | 3 | 3 | 47,281 | 17,019 | – | – | 1,379 | – | – | 65,679 |
See also
- List of British Columbia political parties
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