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

September 19, 1956
52 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   CCF 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.

This election was first after BC switched from Alternative Voting (IRV) (in both single and multi-member districts) back to its historic system that used First Past The Post in single-member districts and Block Voting in multi-member districts.