Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)

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Leader of the Opposition of British Columbia
ShirleyBond.jpg
Incumbent
Shirley Bond
since November 23, 2020
Inaugural holderJames Alexander MacDonald

The leader of the Opposition (French: chef de l'Opposition) in British Columbia is the member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia who leads the political party recognized as the Official Opposition. This position generally goes to the leader of the largest party in the Legislative Assembly that is not in government.

No.[a] Leader[1] Party Took office Left office
1 James Alexander MacDonald   Liberal 1903 1909
2 John Oliver[b]   Liberal 1909 1910
3 James Hurst Hawthornthwaite[c]   Socialist 1910 1910
4a Harlan Carey Brewster[c]   Liberal 1911 1912
5 Parker Williams[d]   Socialist 1913 1915
4b Harlan Carey Brewster[e]   Liberal 1916 1916
6 William John Bowser   Conservative 1917 1923
7 Robert Henry Pooley[f]   Conservative 1924 1928
8 Thomas Dufferin Pattullo   Liberal 1929 1933
9 Robert Connell   CCF 1934 1936
  Social Reconstructive[g] 1936 1936
10 Frank Porter Patterson   Conservative 1937 1937
11 Royal Lethington Maitland   Conservative 1938 1940
12a Harold Winch   CCF 1941 1951
13 Herbert Anscomb[h]   Progressive Conservative 1952 1952
12b Harold Winch   CCF 1953 1953
14 Arnold Webster   CCF 1953 1956
15 Robert Strachan   CCF 1957 1961
  NDP[i] 1961 1969
16 Thomas Berger[b]   NDP 1969 1970
17a Dave Barrett   NDP 1970 1972
18 W.A.C. Bennett   Social Credit 1972 1973
19 Frank Richter   Social Credit 1973 1973
20 William R. Bennett   Social Credit 1974 1975
21 William Stewart King[j]   NDP 1976 1976
17b Dave Barrett   NDP 1976 1984
22 Robert Skelly   NDP 1984 1987
23 Michael Harcourt   NDP 1987 1991
24 Gordon Wilson   Liberal 1991 1993
25 Fred Gingell   Liberal 1993 1994
26 Gordon Campbell   Liberal 1994 2001
27 Joy MacPhail[k]   NDP 2001 2005
28 Carole James   NDP (Shadow Cabinet) 2005 2011
29 Dawn Black   NDP 2011 2011
30 Adrian Dix   NDP (Shadow Cabinet) 2011 2014
31 John Horgan   NDP 2014 2017
32 Christy Clark   Liberal 2017 2017
33 Rich Coleman   Liberal 2017 2018
34 Andrew Wilkinson   Liberal 2018 2020
35 Shirley Bond   Liberal 2020 Present


Notes[]

  1. ^ Ordinal number based on first term served by each unique person. Letter suffixes indicate first and second terms of those serving more than once.
  2. ^ a b Did not sit in the Legislature as leader of the Official Opposition
  3. ^ a b The 1909 election saw four opposition members, two Liberals and two Socialists, elected. As seats were assigned by alphabetical order, Hawthornthwaite physically occupied the seat typical of the Opposition leader. Hawthornthwaite initially rejected the idea of being leader, but was later reported to have "assumed the functions of Opposition leader". However, by the next session, Brewster was being referred to as Opposition leader.[2]
  4. ^ Declined to be named Opposition leader, but was referred to as such by the media and received the appropriate salary.[2]
  5. ^ Became Opposition leader mid-legislature after by-election victories.[2]
  6. ^ After party leader William John Bowser lost his seat in the 1924 election, house leader Robert Henry Pooley became leader of the Opposition. In 1926 Simon Fraser Tolmie was elected Conservative leader but he did not seek a seat in the legislature until the 1928 provincial election, which his party won.
  7. ^ Connell was exeplled from the CCF in 1936 for opposing party policy. He and three other CCF MLAs formed the "Social Reconstructive" party. With a total of 4 MLAs compared to 3 remaining in the CCF, Connell's new party was the second largest in the legislature allowing him to retain the title of "leader of the Official Opposition".
  8. ^ Anscomb's Conservatives had been part of a coalition government with the Liberals until late 1951 when the Liberals decided to terminate the arrangement and Premier John Hart dropped his Conservative ministers from Cabinet. The Tories moved to the opposition benches and displaced the CCF to form the Official Opposition from February 1952 until the June 1952 provincial election.
  9. ^ The CCF became the NDP in 1961 as a result of the creation of the federal New Democratic Party.
  10. ^ Barrett lost his seat in the December 1975 general election and re-entered the legislature through a June 1976 by-election. William Stewart King acted as leader of the Opposition in the house in the interim. Barrett continued as leader of the party during this period.
  11. ^ Although Premier Gordon Campbell refused to recognize the NDP as an official party since it lacked the number of seats required for official party status, the Speaker recognized MacPhail as Opposition leader and ensured the NDP received the resources and funding due to it as an opposition.

References[]

  1. ^ "Leaders of the Official Opposition of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903-" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
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