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
 
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[a] 14
Seats won 37 10
Seat change Increase4 Decrease4
Popular vote 261,147 175,960
Percentage 55.83% 37.62%
Swing Decrease8.02pp Increase4.26pp
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 (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

Elections to the 21st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1945)[1]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1941 1945 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Coalition
  John Hart
  Royal Maitland
 47 32 37 5Increase 261,147 26,979Decrease 55.83 7.65Decrease
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) Harold Winch 48 14 10 4Decrease 175,960 24,520Increase 37.62 4.26Increase
Labour (all factions) 2 1 1 Steady 1,395 5,746Decrease 0.30 1.27Decrease
Liberal[b] – 1 – 1Decrease – 1,681Decrease – Changed
allegiance
Labor-Progressive Party (LPP) 21 – – – 16,479 16,479Increase 3.52 New
Social Credit (alliance) 16 – – – 6,627 6,627Increase 1.42 New
People's CCF 2 – – – 2,786 2,786Increase 0.60 New
Independent 2 – – – 1,532 106Decrease 0.33 0.03Decrease
Independent PC 2 – – – 748 748Increase 0.16 New
Democratic 1 – – – 423 423Increase 0.09 New
Socialist Labor 3 – – – 285 398Decrease 0.06 0.09Decrease
Independent Liberal 1 – – – 199 199Increase 0.04 New
Socialist 1 – – – 105 105Increase 0.02 New
Progressive Liberal 1 – – – 61 61Increase 0.01 New
Total 147 48 48 467,747 100.00%
Rejected ballots[2] 3,899 898Decrease
Actual voters who voted[2] 298,387 5,514Decrease 62.66% 10.07Decrease
Registered voters[2] 476,222 58,383Increase
Seats and popular vote by party[1]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Coalition
37 / 48
55.83%
 -7.65
 
█ Co-operative Commonwealth
10 / 48
37.62%
 4.26
 
█ Labor-Progressive
0 / 48
3.52%
 3.52
 
█ Social Credit
0 / 48
1.42%
 1.42
 
█ Other
1 / 48
1.61%
 -1.55
 

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1945 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[3]
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
Results by riding - 1945 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[3]
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

Further reading

  • Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.

Notes

  1. ^ The Liberals and Conservatives ran separately in the 1941 election. In that election, the Liberals won 21 seats and the Conservatives won 12 seats.
  2. ^ Duff Pattullo was the sole Liberal that chose not to join the Coalition, and Prince Rupert was the only district where the Coalition did not field a candidate in 1945. Pattullo stood as an Independent in this election.
  3. ^ Died before the opening of the new legislature. Charles William Morrow would win the subsequent byelection for the Coalition.

References

  1. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 193, 203.
  2. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
  3. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 195–199, 205–209.
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