1956 British Columbia general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates 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

Elections to the 25th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1956)Template:SfnTemplate:Election table/category

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1953	1956	±	#	±	%	± (pp)	W.A.C. Bennett	52	28	39	11Increase	374,711	99,940Increase	45.84	8.09Increase	Bob Strachan	51	14	10	4Decrease	231,511	6,998Increase	28.32	2.53Decrease	Arthur Laing	52	4	2	2Decrease	177,922	6,161Increase	21.77	1.82Decrease	Deane Finlayson	22	1	–	1Decrease	25,373	15,407Decrease	3.11	2.49Decrease	Tom Uphill	1	1	1	Template:No change	1,321	280Decrease	0.16	0.06Decrease		14	–	–	–	3,381	4,115Decrease	0.41	0.62Decrease		7	–	–	–	3,178	1,207Increase	0.39	0.12Increase
Total			199	48	52		817,397		100.00%
Rejected ballotsTemplate:Sfn							6,642	37,124Decrease
Actual voters who votedTemplate:Sfn							509,409	12,643Decrease	65.43%	5.12Decrease
Registered votersTemplate:Sfn							778,587	38,581Increase

Seats and popular vote by partyTemplate:Sfn

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
Template:Canadian party colour	Template:Composition bar	Template:Percentage bar	Template:Bartable
Template:Canadian party colour	Template:Composition bar	Template:Percentage bar	Template:Bartable
Template:Canadian party colour	Template:Composition bar	Template:Percentage bar	Template:Bartable
Template:Canadian party colour	Template:Composition bar	Template:Percentage bar	Template:Bartable
Template:Canadian party colour	Template:Composition bar	Template:Percentage bar	Template:Bartable

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

  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

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1956 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)Template:Sfn

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	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	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

Results by riding - 1956 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)Template:Sfn

Riding		Winning party		Votes							Voters who votedTemplate:Sfn
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	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	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

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

References

[[Category:General elections in British Columbia|Template:Title year]] [[Category:Template:Title year elections in Canada]] [[Category:Template:Title year in British Columbia|General election]]