1966 British Columbia general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates The 1966 British Columbia general election was the 28th 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 5, 1966 and held on September 12, 1966. The new legislature met for the first time on January 24, 1967.

The conservative Social Credit Party was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a sixth term in government. It increased its share of the popular vote by close to five percentage points to over 45%, and winning the same number of seats (33) as in the previous election.

The opposition New Democratic Party also increased its share of the popular vote by over five percentage points, but won only two additional seats.

The Liberal Party won about 20% of the popular vote, and one additional seat, for a total of six.

The Progressive Conservative Party was virtually wiped out: it nominated only three candidates (down from 44 in the previous election), and its share of the popular vote fell from over 11% to a negligible amount.

1966 redistribution of ridings

An Act was passed in 1966 providing for an increase of seats from 52 to 55, upon the next election. The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings	New ridings
Renaming of districts
Columbia	Columbia River
Salmon Arm	Shuswap
Reduction of multi-member district
Victoria City (3 MLAs)	Victoria City (2 MLAs)
Merger of districts
Cranbrook Fernie	Kootenay
Grand Forks-Greenwood Similkameen	Boundary-Similkameen
Kaslo-Slocan Revelstoke	Revelstoke-Slocan
Lillooet Yale	Yale-Lillooet
Reorganization of districts
Cowichan-Newcastle Nanaimo and the Islands Saanich	Cowichan-Malahat Nanaimo Saanich and the Islands
Division of districts
Burnaby (2 MLAs)	Burnaby-Edmonds Burnaby North Burnaby-Willingdon
Delta (2 MLAs)	Richmond Delta Langley Surrey
Dewdney	Coquitlam Dewdney
North Vancouver (2 MLAs)	North Vancouver-Capilano North Vancouver-Seymour West Vancouver-Howe Sound
Vancouver-Point Grey (3 MLAs)	Vancouver-Little Mountain (2 MLAs) Vancouver-Point Grey (2 MLAs) Vancouver South (2 MLAs)

Results

Elections to the 28th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1966)Template:SfnTemplate:Election table/category

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1963	1966	±	#	±	%	± (pp)	W.A.C. Bennett	55	33	33	Template:No change	342,751	52,328Decrease	45.59	4.76Increase	Bob Strachan	55	14	16	2Increase	252,753	16,251Decrease	33.62	5.82Increase	Ray Perrault	53	5	6	1Increase	152,155	41,208Decrease	20.24	0.26Increase		3	–	–	–	1,409	107,681Decrease	0.18	11.09Decrease		6	–	–	–	1,097	248Increase	0.14	0.05Increase		6	–	–	–	1,711	1,421Increase	0.23	0.20Increase
Total			178	52	55		751,876		100.00%
Rejected ballotsTemplate:Sfn							7,056	924Increase
Actual voters who votedTemplate:Sfn							596,716	11,956Decrease	68.28%	1.43Decrease
Registered votersTemplate:Sfn							873,927	787Increase

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: Howard McDiarmid

  Atlin: Frank Calder

  Boundary-Similkameen: Frank Richter, Jr.

  Burnaby-Edmonds: Gordon Dowding

  Burnaby North: Eileen Dailly

  Burnaby-Willingdon: Fred Vulliamy

  Cariboo: William C. Speare

  Chilliwack: William Kenneth Kiernan

  Columbia River: James Roland Chabot

  Comox: Daniel Campbell

  Coquitlam: Dave Barrett

  Cowichan-Malahat: Robert Strachan

  Delta: Robert Wenman

  Dewdney: George Mussallem

  Esquimalt: Herbert Joseph Bruch

  Fort George: Ray Williston

  Kamloops: Phil Gaglardi

  Kootenay: Leo Nimsick

  Langley: Hunter Vogel

  Mackenzie: Isabel Dawson

  Nanaimo: David Stupich

  Nelson-Creston: Wesley Drewett Black

  New Westminster: Rae Eddie

  North Okanagan: Patricia Jordan

  North Peace River: Dean Smith

  North Vancouver-Capilano: Ray Perrault

  North Vancouver-Seymour: Barrie Clark

  Oak Bay: Alan MacFarlane

  Omineca: Cyril Morley Shelford

  Prince Rupert: William Harvey Murray

  Revelstoke-Slocan: Randolph Harding

  Richmond: Ernest A. LeCours

  Rossland-Trail: Donald Leslie Brothers

  Saanich and the Islands: John Douglas Tisdalle

  Shuswap: Willis Franklin Jefcoat

  Skeena: Dudley George Little

  South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett

  South Peace River: Donald M. Phillips

  Surrey: Ernest Hall

  West Vancouver-Howe Sound: Allan Williams

  Yale-Lillooet: Bill Hartley

Multi-member districts

  Vancouver-Burrard: Thomas Berger

  Vancouver-Burrard: Raymond Parkinson

  Vancouver Centre: Herb Capozzi

  Vancouver Centre: Evan Maurice Wolfe

  Vancouver East: Alexander Macdonald

  Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner

  Vancouver-Little Mountain: Grace McCarthy

  Vancouver-Little Mountain: Leslie Peterson

  Vancouver-Point Grey: Garde Gardom

  Vancouver-Point Grey: Pat McGeer

  Vancouver South: Thomas Audley Bate

  Vancouver South: Ralph Raymond Loffmark

  Victoria City: William Chant

  Victoria City: Waldo McTavish Skillings

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)Template:Sfn

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1963		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	SC	NDP	Lib	PC	Comm	Ind	Total
Alberni		NDP		SC	6,039	55.55%	1,718	15.80%	6,039	4,321	511	–	–	–	10,871
Atlin		NDP		NDP	572	59.71%	311	32.47%	261	572	125	–	–	–	958
Boundary-Similkameen	New			SC	6,547	55.44%	2,878	24.37%	6,547	3,669	1,594	–	–	–	11,810
Burnaby-Edmonds	New			NDP	5,748	48.71%	1,118	9.48%	4,630	5,748	1,423	–	–	–	11,801
Burnaby North	New			NDP	6,984	49.72%	1,879	13.38%	5,105	6,984	1,957	–	–	–	14,046
Burnaby-Willingdon	New			NDP	6,153	44.47%	524	3.78%	5,629	6,153	2,053	–	–	–	13,835
Cariboo		SC		SC	3,830	54.10%	1,300	18.36%	3,830	2,530	719	–	–	–	7,079
Chilliwack		SC		SC	7,703	63.17%	4,622	37.91%	7,703	3,081	1,411	–	–	–	12,195
Columbia River		SC		SC	1,563	58.45%	929	34.74%	1,563	477	634	–	–	–	2,674
Comox		SC		SC	5,449	49.39%	1,140	10.34%	5,449	4,309	1,276	–	–	–	11,033
Coquitlam	New			NDP	9,517	55.20%	3,452	20.02%	6,065	9,517	1,658	–	–	–	17,240
Cowichan-Malahat	New			NDP	5,646	52.08%	1,234	11.38%	4,412	5,646	783	–	–	–	10,841
Delta	New			SC	7,768	46.46%	1,690	10.11%	7,768	6,078	1,954	921	–	–	16,721
Dewdney		NDP		SC	6,507	53.42%	1,979	16.25%	6,507	4,528	1,146	–	–	–	12,181
Esquimalt		SC		SC	6,075	53.35%	2,630	23.10%	6,075	3,445	1,867	–	–	–	11,387
Fort George		SC		SC	6,282	60.42%	3,480	33.47%	6,282	2,802	1,313	–	–	–	10,397
Kamloops		SC		SC	5,753	52.35%	2,516	22.90%	5,753	3,237	2,000	–	–	–	10,990
Kootenay	New			NDP	3,605	40.98%	535	6.09%	3,070	3,605	2,123	–	–	–	8,798
Langley	New			SC	7,206	58.28%	3,307	26.75%	7,206	3,899	1,260	–	–	–	12,365
Mackenzie		NDP		SC	4,945	52.68%	1,359	14.47%	4,945	3,586	855	–	–	–	9,386
Nanaimo	New			NDP	5,625	47.99%	45	0.38%	5,580	5,625	516	–	–	–	11,721
Nelson-Creston		SC		SC	4,683	59.29%	2,359	29.87%	4,683	2,324	892	–	–	–	7,899
New Westminster		NDP		NDP	5,751	44.65%	199	1.54%	5,552	5,751	1,577	–	–	–	12,880
North Okanagan		SC		SC	3,841	48.59%	1,433	18.13%	3,841	1,535	2,408	–	–	121	7,905
North Peace River		SC		SC	1,799	48.44%	1,216	32.74%	1,799	511	565	–	–	839	3,714
North Vancouver-Capilano	New			Lib	6,426	51.49%	2,450	19.63%	3,976	1,816	6,426	261	–	–	12,479
North Vancouver-Seymour	New			Lib	5,301	39.61%	694	5.18%	4,607	3,137	5,301	227	110	–	13,382
Oak Bay		Lib		Lib	8,118	54.48%	2,310	15.51%	5,808	976	8,118	–	–	–	14,902
Omineca		SC		SC	2,337	70.16%	1,343	40.32%	2,337	994	–	–	–	–	3,331
Prince Rupert		SC		SC	2,647	52.90%	834	16.67%	2,647	1,813	544	–	–	–	5,004
Revelstoke-Slocan	New			NDP	2,158	44.67%	138	2.86%	2,020	2,158	548	–	–	105	4,831
Richmond	New			SC	6,521	43.33%	372	2.48%	6,521	6,149	2,381	–	–	–	15,051
Rossland-Trail		SC		SC	5,600	55.93%	3,147	31.43%	5,600	2,453	1,960	–	–	–	10,013
Saanich and the Islands	New			SC	7,237	50.05%	3,416	23.62%	7,237	3,821	3,401	–	–	–	14,459
Shuswap		SC		SC	3,995	54.07%	1,400	18.95%	3,995	2,595	760	–	39	–	7,389
Skeena		SC		SC	3,046	55.39%	1,304	23.71%	3,046	1,742	711	–	–	–	5,499
South Okanagan		SC		SC	8,747	73.15%	6,811	56.96%	8,747	1,936	1,274	–	–	–	11,957
South Peace River		SC		SC	2,585	59.78%	1,697	39.24%	2,585	851	888	–	–	–	4,324
Surrey	New			NDP	7,039	48.20%	785	5.38%	6,254	7,039	1,234	–	77	–	14,604
West Vancouver-Howe Sound	New			Lib	8,346	52.76%	2,847	18.00%	5,499	1,975	8,346	–	–	–	15,820
Yale-Lillooet	New			NDP	3,885	55.37%	754	10.74%	3,131	3,885	–	–	–	–	7,016

  = 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

  = multiple candidates

Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)Template:Sfn

Riding		Winning party		Votes
Name	MLAs	1963	1966	SC	NDP	Lib	PC	Comm	Ind	Total
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	2	7,584	9,849	3,190	–	–	–	40,386
				7,584	9,498	2,681	–	–	–
Vancouver Centre	2	2	2	8,157	7,257	4,147	–	253	144	38,570
				7,938	6,871	3,803	–	–	–
Vancouver East	2	2	2	8,644	12,502	1,637	–	377	–	45,521
				8,593	12,185	1,583	–	–	–
Vancouver-Little Mountain	2	New	2	12,380	8,620	4,681	–	–	–	50,040
				11,566	8,523	4,270	–	–	–
Vancouver-Point Grey	2	2   1	2	11,494	2,934	17,400	–	–	–	57,472
				9,284	2,853	13,507	–	–	–
Vancouver South	2	New	2	12,259	9,067	5,698	–	–	502	53,784
				11,740	8,843	5,675	–	–	–
Victoria City	2	3	2	13,068	5,304	4,774	–	241	–	45,315
				12,156	5,175	4,597	–	–	–

  = 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]]