1920 British Columbia general election

The 1920 British Columbia general election was the fifteenth 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 October 23, 1920, and held on December 1, 1920. The new legislature met for the first time on February 8, 1921.

1920 British Columbia general election
December 1, 1920
47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
24 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader John Oliver William John Bowser
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader's seat Victoria City[lower-alpha 1] Vancouver City
Last election 36 9
Seats won 26 14
Seat change Decrease10 Increase5
Popular vote 134,167 110,475
Percentage 37.89% 31.20%
Swing Decrease12.11pp Decrease9.32pp
  Third party Fourth party
 
FLP
PP
Party Federated Labour People's
Last election Did not contest Did not contest
Seats won 3 1
Seat change Increase3 Increase1
Popular vote 32,230 1,354
Percentage 9.10% 0.38%
Swing new new
Premier before election

John Oliver
Liberal

 Premier after election

John Oliver
Liberal

The legislature of British Columbia in session, 1921

Although it lost eleven seats in the legislature, and fell from 50% of the popular vote to under 38%, the governing Liberal Party was able to hold on to a slim majority in the legislature for its second consecutive term in government.

The Conservative Party also lost a significant share of its popular vote, but won six additional seats for a total of fifteen, and formed the Official Opposition.

Almost a third of the vote and seven seats were won by independents and by a wide variety of fringe parties.

This was the first general election in which women could vote and run for office.[1]

Results
Elections to the 15th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1920)[2]
Parties Leader Seats Votes
Candidates 1916 Seats ± Votes  % ±
Liberal John Oliver[a 1] 45362610Decrease134,16737.8912.11Decrease
  Conservative William Bowser 429145Increase110,47531.209.32Decrease
Independent[a 2]   18132Increase36,73610.377.63Increase
Federated Labour[a 3]   14–33Increase32,2309.10New
People's Party   1–11Increase1,3540.38New
Independent-Socialist   11–1Decrease4190.120.62Decrease
Socialist[a 4]   7––Steady12,3863.502.33Increase
Soldier–Farmer/Soldier-Labour[a 5]   11–––10,7803.04New
Grand Army of United Veterans[a 6]   2–––5,4411,54New
Independent-Liberal   3––Steady3,4330.970.13Increase
United Farmers   2–––3,1780.90New
Independent-Conservative   2––Steady1,6020.451.23Decrease
Independent Soldier   2–––9070.26New
Independent Farmer   3–––5260.15New
Liberal–Conservative   1–––4240.12New
Independent Labour   1––Steady300.011.65Decrease
Independent Progressive   Did not campaign
Social Democratic   Did not campaign
Total 155 47 47 354,088 100.00%
  1. nominated and won in both Delta and Victoria City. He would opt to resign from the Delta seat.
  2. Includes Liberty League of B.C., Vancouver Ratepayers Association, and Women's Freedom League candidates.
  3. Includes candidates not directly nominated, but supported by, the Federated Labour Party.
  4. Includes John Henry Burrough, a Labour candidate in Prince Rupert running on a Socialist Party platform.
  5. Soldier-Farmer candidates ran in rural Districts (five candidates, 3361 votes) and Soldier-Labour candidates ran in urban ones (six candidates, 7419 votes).
  6. Some GAUV candidates ran on a joint Soldier-Labour ticket.
Popular vote
Liberal
 
 37.89%
Conservative
 
 31.20%
Fed. Labour
 
 9.10%
Socialist
 
 3.50%
Others
 
 18.31%
Seats summary
Liberal
 
 53.19%
Conservative
 
 31.91%
Fed. Labour
 
 6.38%
Others
 
 8.52%

MLAs elected

See also

Further reading
  • An Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986 (PDF). Victoria: Elections British Columbia. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
  • 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 (1921). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1920. Toronto: The Canadian Review Company.

Notes and references

Notes
  1. Oliver was also elected as member for Delta, but chose to resign from that seat.

References
  1. Women's Right to Vote in Canada
  2. Elections BC 1988, p. 139.
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