1969 British Columbia general election

The 1969 British Columbia general election was the 29th 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 July 21, 1969, and held on August 27, 1969. The new legislature met for the first time on January 22, 1970.

1969 British Columbia general election

August 27, 1969
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   BCLP Leader W. A. C. Bennett Thomas R. Berger Pat McGeer Party Social Credit New Democratic Liberal Leader since 1952 1969 1968 Leader's seat South Okanagan Vancouver-Burrard (lost re-election) Vancouver-Point Grey Last election 33 seats, 45.59% 16 seats, 33.62% 6 seats, 20.24% Seats won 38 12 5 Seat change 5 4 1 Popular vote 457,777 331,813 186,235 Percentage 46.79% 33.92% 19.03% Swing 1.20pp 0.30pp 1.21pp
Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier after election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit

The conservative Social Credit Party of British Columbia was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a seventh term in government. It won over 46% of the popular vote.

The opposition New Democratic Party of British Columbia won about one-third of the popular vote, roughly the same as in the previous election, but lost four of its 16 seats in the legislature.

The Liberal Party of British Columbia lost one of its six seats.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1966	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Social Credit	W.A.C. Bennett	55	33	38	+15.2%	457,777	46.79%	+1.20%
	New Democrats	Tom Berger	55	16	12	-25.0%	331,813	33.92%	+0.30%
	Liberal	Patrick Lucey McGeer	55	6	5	-16.7%	186,235	19.03%	-1.21%
	Progressive Conservative	John de Wolf	1	-	-	-	1,087	0.11%	-0.07%
	Independent		6	-	-	-	831	0.08%	-0.15%
	Communist		4	-	-	-	482	0.05%	-0.09%
	Social Conservative		1	*	-	*	131	0.01%	*
Total			177	55	55	-	978,356	100%
Source:

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Popular vote Social Credit   46.79% NDP   33.92% Liberal   19.03% PC   0.11% Others   0.15%

Seats summary Social Credit   69.09% NDP   21.82% Liberal   9.09%

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading

• Saywell, John, ed. (1970). Canadian Annual Review for 1969. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-1736-9.