1956 British Columbia general election

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.

1956 British Columbia general election

← 1953 September 19, 1956 1960 →
← outgoing members elected members →
52 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader W. A. C. Bennett Robert Strachan Arthur Laing Party Social Credit CCF Liberal Leader since 1952 1956 1953 Leader's seat South Okanagan Cowichan-Newcastle Vancouver-Point Grey (lost re-election) Last election 28 14 4 Seats won 39 10 2 Seat change 11 4 2 Popular vote 374,711 231,511 177,922 Percentage 45.84% 28.32% 21.77% Swing 8.09 2.53 1.82
Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier after election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit

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.^[1] As well, the instant runoff voting system that was in effect for the 1952 and 1953 elections was abolished and the previous first past the post rules were revived.

In 1955, a further Act was passed that increased the Legislative from 48 members to 52 through the following changes:^[2]

• 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

Elections to the 25th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1956)^[3]

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes[a 1]
			Candidates	1953	1956	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Social Credit	W.A.C. Bennett	52	28	39	11	374,711	99,940	45.84	8.09
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Bob Strachan	51	14	10	4	231,511	6,998	28.32	2.53
	Liberal	Arthur Laing	52	4	2	2	177,922	6,161	21.77	1.82
	Progressive Conservative	Deane Finlayson	22	1	–	1	25,373	15,407	3.11	2.49
	Labour	Tom Uphill	1	1	1		1,321	280	0.16	0.06
	Labor–Progressive		14	–	–	–	3,381	4,115	0.41	0.62
	Independent		7	–	–	–	3,178	1,207	0.39	0.12
Total			199	48	52		817,397		100.00%
Rejected ballots[4]							6,642	37,124
Actual voters who voted[4]							509,409	12,643	65.43%	5.12
Registered voters[4]							778,587	38,581

1. Measured against 1953 first-preference votes.

Seats and popular vote by party^[3]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█ Social Credit	39 / 52	45.84%	8.09		8.09
█ Co-operative Commonwealth	10 / 52	28.52%	-2.53
█ Liberal	2 / 52	21.77%	-1.82
█ Progressive Conservative	0 / 52	3.11%	-2.49
█ Other	1 / 52	0.76%	-1.25

MLAs elected

Single-member districts   Alberni: Stanley John Squire   Atlin: William James Asselstine   Cariboo: Ralph Chetwynd   Chilliwack: William Kenneth Kiernan   Columbia: Richard Orr Newton   Comox: Daniel Campbell   Cowichan-Newcastle: Robert Strachan   Cranbrook: Leo Nimsick   Dewdney: Lyle Wicks   Esquimalt: Herbert Joseph Bruch   Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill   Fort George: Ray Gillis Williston   Grand Forks-Greenwood: Lois Haggen   Kamloops: Phil Gaglardi   Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding   Lillooet: Don Robinson

Mackenzie: Anthony Gargrave   Nanaimo and the Islands: Earle Cathers Westwood   Nelson-Creston: Wesley Drewett Black   New Westminster: Rae Eddie   North Okanagan: Lorne Shantz   North Peace River: Harold Earl Roche   Oak Bay: Philip Archibald Gibbs   Omineca: Cyril Morley Shelford   Prince Rupert: William Harvey Murray   Revelstoke: Arvid Lundell   Rossland-Trail: Robert Sommers   Saanich: John Douglas Tisdalle   Salmon Arm: James Allan Reid   Similkameen: Frank Richter, Jr.   Skeena: Hugh Shirreff   South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett   South Peace River: Stanley Carnell   Yale: Irvine Finlay Corbett

Multi-member districts   Burnaby: Gordon Dowding   Burnaby: Ernest Winch[a 1]   Delta: Thomas Irwin   Delta: Nehemiah George Massey   North Vancouver: John Melvin Bryan Sr.   North Vancouver: Newton Phillips Steacy   Vancouver-Burrard: Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin   Vancouver-Burrard: Bert Price   Vancouver Centre: Alexander Small Matthew   Vancouver Centre: Leslie Peterson   Vancouver East: Frederick Morton Sharp   Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner   Vancouver-Point Grey: Thomas Audley Bate   Vancouver-Point Grey: Buda Brown   Vancouver-Point Grey: Arthur Laing   Victoria City: William Chant   Victoria City: John Donald Smith   Victoria City: George Frederick Thompson Gregory

1. Died before the opening of the new Legislative Assembly. His son-in-law Cedric Cox won the subsequent byelection.

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1956 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)^[5]

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	877[a 1]	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	–	–	173[a 2]	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

1. Lois Haggen accepted the nomination after her husband Rupert Haggen chose to retire because of health problems.
2. Campaigned as People's Party of BC.

  = 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

Results by riding - 1956 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)^[5]

Riding		Winning party		Votes							Voters who voted[6]
Name	MLAs	1953	1956	SC	CCF	Lib	PC	LPP	Ind	Total
Burnaby	2	1	2	12,103	15,304	3,972	513	–	–	60,540	31,243
				11,583	12,692	3,895	478	–	–
Delta	2	1	2	18,848	11,202	5,149	–	355	–	69,066	35,578
				17,762	10,798	4,680	–	272	–
North Vancouver	2	1	2	11,974	4,718	8,425	5,121	211	902[a 1]	53,719	28,602
				11,298	4,266	6,386	–	191	227
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	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	2	2	9,112	4,561	3,996	969	485	–	36,302	19,128
				8,614	4,393	3,727	–	445	–
Vancouver East	2	2	1   1	18,640	19,774	4,229	720	–	–	84,422	44,795
				17,821	18,541	4,156	541	–	–
Vancouver-Point Grey	3	2   1	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	3	2   1	9,199	3,432	8,408[a 2]	1,476	162	–	60,519	21,474
				8,620	3,417	7,241	–	143	–
				7,827	3,265	7,205	–	124	–

1. George Henry Tomlinson Jr., a Socred MLA in the previous Legislature.
2. George Frederick Thompson Gregory (Liberal)won the seat in a 1953 byelection, taking it from the Socreds.

Bold indicates incumbent in last Legislature.

  = winning candidate

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading

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