From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1956 British Columbia general election

Canadian provincial election

Summary

Canadian provincial election

Field	Value
election_name	1956 British Columbia general election
country	British Columbia
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
party_colour	no
party_name	no
previous_election	1953 British Columbia general election
previous_year	1953
next_election	1960 British Columbia general election
next_year	1960
outgoing_members	24th Parliament of British Columbia
elected_members	25th Parliament of British Columbia
seats_for_election	52 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
27 seats were needed for a majority
election_date	September 19, 1956
image1	WAC Bennett - 1942.jpg
colour1
leader1	W. A. C. Bennett
leader_since1	1952
party1
leaders_seat1	South Okanagan
last_election1	28
seats1	39
seat_change1	11
popular_vote1	374,711
percentage1	45.84%
swing1	8.09
image2	MLA Robert Strachan.jpg
colour2
leader2	Robert Strachan
leader_since2	1956
party2
leaders_seat2	Cowichan-Newcastle
last_election2	14
seats2	10
seat_change2	4
popular_vote2	231,511
percentage2	28.32%
swing2	2.53
image3	[[File:Canadas-Minister-of-Northern-Affairs-visit-to-Sweden-142352846895 (cropped).jpg	x150px]]
colour3
leader3	Arthur Laing
leader_since3	1953
party3
leaders_seat3	Vancouver-Point Grey (lost re-election)
last_election3	4
seats3	2
seat_change3	2
popular_vote3	177,922
percentage3	21.77%
swing3	1.82
title	Premier
before_election	W. A. C. Bennett
before_party
posttitle	Premier after election
after_election	W. A. C. Bennett
after_party

27 seats were needed for a majority The 1956 British Columbia general election was the 25th 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 13, 1956, and held on September 19, 1956. The new legislature met for the first time on February 7, 1957.

The conservative Social Credit of Premier W.A.C. Bennett was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a third term in government with over 45% of the popular vote.

The social democratic CCF formed the official opposition.

The British Columbia Liberal Party lost two of its four seats despite winning over 20% of the popular vote.

The Progressive Conservative Party lost its single seat in the legislature, and would not win a seat again until the 1972 election.

One seat was won by a Labour candidate, Tom Uphill of Fernie.

Changes to election laws

In 1953, as part of a revision to the Provincial Elections Act, the voting age was reduced from 21 to 19. As well, the instant runoff voting system that was in effect for the 1952 and 1953 elections was abolished, and the previous system—mixture of block voting in multi-member districts and single-winner first past the post—was revived.

In 1955, a further Act was passed that increased the Legislative from 48 members to 52 through the following changes:

:* Peace River was split into North Peace River and South Peace River :* Burnaby, Delta and North Vancouver became multi-member districts, each now returning two members.

Results

|- ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | VotesMeasured against 1953 first-preference votes. |- ! Candidates 1953 !1956 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp) | 52 || 28 || 39 || 11 || 374,711 || 99,940 || 45.84 || 8.09 | 51 || 14 || 10 || 4 || 231,511 || 6,998 || 28.32 || 2.53 | 52 || 4 || 2 || 2 || 177,922 || 6,161 || 21.77 || 1.82 | 22 || 1 || – || 1 || 25,373 || 15,407 || 3.11 || 2.49 | 1 || 1 || 1 || || 1,321 || 280 || 0.16 || 0.06 | 14 || – || – || – || 3,381 || 4,115 || 0.41 || 0.62 | || 7 || – || – || – || 3,178 || 1,207 || 0.39 || 0.12 |- ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total | 199 | 48 ! colspan="2"| 52 ! colspan="2"|817,397 ! colspan="2"| 100.00% |- | 6,642 ||37,124 |- | 509,409 ||12,643 | 65.43% || 5.12 |- | 778,587 ||38,581 |}

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
			{{bartable	8.09
			{{bartable	-2.53
			{{bartable	-1.82
			{{bartable	-2.49
			{{bartable	-1.25

MLAs elected

Single-member districts

Multi-member districts

Synopsis of results

Riding	Winning party	Votes	Name	1953	Party	Votes	Share	Margin
#	Margin
%	SC	CCF	Lib	PC	LPP	Ind	Total
Alberni		CCF		CCF	3,362	50.60%	1,468	22.09%	1,894	3,362	1,388	–	–	–	6,644
Atlin		CCF		SC	454	48.04%	94	9.94%	454	360	131	–	–	–	945
Cariboo		SC		SC	3,014	60.86%	1,873	37.82%	3,014	797	1,141	–	–	–	4,952
Chilliwack		SC		SC	9,008	57.10%	5,890	37.34%	9,008	2,992	3,118	658	–	–	15,776
Columbia		SC		SC	1,074	54.41%	422	21.38%	1,074	248	652	–	–	–	1,974
Comox		CCF		SC	4,916	41.63%	361	3.06%	4,916	4,555	2,339	–	–	–	11,810
Cowichan-Newcastle		CCF		CCF	5,015	51.18%	1,842	18.80%	3,173	5,015	1,611	–	–	–	9,799
Cranbrook		CCF		CCF	3,321	53.26%	1,309	20.99%	2,012	3,321	902	–	–	–	6,235
Dewdney		SC		SC	10,267	47.49%	3,056	14.14%	10,267	7,211	4,141	–	–	–	21,619
Esquimalt		SC		SC	3,530	43.70%	1,517	18.78%	3,530	2,013	1,714	821	–	–	8,078
Fernie		Lab		Lab	1,321	42.43%	140	4.49%	1,181	–	611	–	–	1,321	3,113
Fort George		SC		SC	3,774	58.48%	2,398	37.16%	3,774	1,304	1,376	–	–	–	6,454
Grand Forks-Greenwood		CCF		CCF	877	42.57%	11	0.53%	866	877Lois Haggen accepted the nomination after her husband Rupert Haggen chose to retire because of health problems.	317	–	–	–	2,060
Kamloops		SC		SC	4,948	61.02%	2,931	36.15%	4,948	1,144	2,017	–	–	–	8,109
Kaslo-Slocan		CCF		CCF	1,512	54.31%	537	19.29%	975	1,512	297	–	–	–	2,784
Lillooet		Lib		SC	2,055	52.41%	1,096	27.95%	2,055	907	959	–	–	–	3,921
Mackenzie		CCF		CCF	4,502	48.41%	1,256	13.50%	3,246	4,502	1,362	189	–	–	9,299
Nanaimo and the Islands		PC		SC	3,827	45.52%	864	12.60%	3,827	2,963	2,142	–	–	69	9,001
Nelson-Creston		SC		SC	4,190	51.02%	1,859	22.64%	4,190	2,331	1,622	–	70	–	8,213
New Westminster		CCF		CCF	4,469	38.83%	293	2.55%	4,176	4,469	2,220	–	–	645	11,510
North Okanagan		SC		SC	4,583	54.74%	2,311	27.60%	4,583	1,429	2,272	–	88	–	8,372
North Peace River	New		SC	1,087	53.23%	664	32.52%	1,087	359	423	–	–	173Campaigned as People's Party of BC.	2,042
Oak Bay		Lib		Lib	3,940	49.38%	1,249	15.65%	2,691	429	3,940	919	–	–	7,979
Omineca		SC		SC	1,685	54.06%	838	26.89%	1,685	585	847	–	–	–	3,117
Prince Rupert		Lib		SC	2,151	42.39%	487	9.60%	2,151	1,259	1,664	–	–	–	5,074
Revelstoke		CCF		SC	1,339	49.81%	354	13.17%	1,339	985	364	–	–	–	2,688
Rossland-Trail		SC		SC	5,097	50.23%	2,258	22.25%	5,097	2,839	1,960	252	–	–	10,148
Saanich		SC		SC	6,542	39.45%	1,103	6.65%	6,542	5,439	3,344	1,257	–	–	16,582
Salmon Arm		SC		SC	2,131	51.24%	677	16.28%	2,131	1,454	339	487	–	–	4,159
Similkameen		SC		SC	5,189	53.94%	2,989	31.07%	5,189	2,200	1,744	487	–	–	9,620
Skeena		CCF		SC	1,886	37.01%	63	1.24%	1,886	1,823	1,387	–	–	–	5,096
South Okanagan		SC		SC	7,694	69.70%	6,031	54.63%	7,694	1,663	1,230	451	–	–	11,038
South Peace River	New		SC	1,787	50.80%	512	14.56%	1,787	1,275	456	–	–	–	3,518
Yale		SC		SC	1,315	47.34%	612	22.03%	1,315	599	703	161	–	–	2,778

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = 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 : = campaigned as Independent SC : = multiple candidates

Riding	Winning party	Votes	Voters
who voted	Name	MLAs	1953	1956	SC	CCF	Lib	PC	LPP	Ind	Total
Burnaby	2			12,103	15,304	3,972	513	–	–	60,540	31,243
11,583	12,692	3,895	478	–	–
Delta	2			18,848	11,202	5,149	–	355	–	69,066	35,578
17,762	10,798	4,680	–	272	–
North Vancouver	2			11,974	4,718	8,425	5,121	211	902George Henry Tomlinson Jr., a Socred MLA in the previous Legislature.	53,719	28,602
11,298	4,266	6,386	–	191	227
Vancouver-Burrard	2			12,824	7,826	4,972	1,095	260	203	52,369	27,798
12,180	7,322	4,424	1,006	257	–
Vancouver Centre	2			9,112	4,561	3,996	969	485	–	36,302	19,128
8,614	4,393	3,727	–	445	–
Vancouver East	2			18,640	19,774	4,229	720	–	–	84,422	44,795
17,821	18,541	4,156	541	–	–
Vancouver-Point Grey	3			25,615	11,365	17,801	3,324	318	959	155,953	53,152
23,696	8,435	15,599	2,878	–	–
23,238	7,979	12,924	1,822	–	–
Victoria City	3			9,199	3,432	8,408George Frederick Thompson Gregory (Liberal)won the seat in a 1953 byelection, taking it from the Socreds.	1,476	162	–	60,519	21,474
8,620	3,417	7,241	–	143	–
7,827	3,265	7,205	–	124	–

Bold indicates incumbent in last Legislature.

: = winning candidate

References

{{Cite canlaw. (1953 (2nd session))
{{Cite canlaw. (1955)

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

general-elections-in-british-columbia {{title-year}}-elections-in-canada {{title-year}}-in-british-columbia september-1956-in-canada

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1956 British Columbia general election — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report