1912 British Columbia general election

1912 British Columbia general election

← 1909 March 28, 1912 1916 →
42 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   SPC SDP Leader Sir Richard McBride Party Conservative Socialist Social Democratic Leader's seat Victoria City Last election 38 2 Did not contest Seats won 39 1 1 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 50,423[a] 9,366 621 Percentage 59.65% 11.08% 0.74% Swing 7.32pp 0.42pp new   Fourth party   Leader Harlan Carey Brewster Party Liberal Last election 2 Seats won 0 Seat change 2 Popular vote 21,443 Percentage 25.37% Swing 7.84pp
Premier before election Richard McBride Conservative Premier after election Richard McBride Conservative

The 1912 British Columbia general election was the thirteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on February 27, 1912, and held on March 28, 1912. The new legislature met for the first time on January 16, 1913.

The governing Conservative Party increased its share of the popular vote to almost 60%, and swept all but 3 of the 42 seats in the legislature. Of the remaining three, one (Harold Ernest Forster in Columbia) was formally listed as an Independent but was a Conservative who had missed the filing date. He campaigned and sat in full support of the McBride government.

The Liberal Party's share of the vote fell from one-third to one-quarter, and it lost both of its seats in the legislature.

The remaining two seats were won by the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party in the coal-mining ridings of Nanaimo City and Newcastle.

Results[]

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ Since nine Conservatives were elected by acclamation, i.e., without any polling of votes, the total votes for the Conservative Party and the overall total as well as the popular vote are somewhat misleading. A potential 14,086 voters did not have the opportunity to exercise their franchise. Given a voter turnout of almost 50% in other ridings, the total number of votes could have been about 7,000 more.

Results by riding[]

See also[]

• List of British Columbia political parties

Notes[]

Further reading & references[]

• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.
• Hopkins, J. Castell (1913). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1912. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.