1975 British Columbia general election

The 1975 British Columbia general election was the 31st 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 November 3, 1975, and held on December 11, 1975. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1976.

1975 British Columbia general election

December 11, 1975
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Bill Bennett Dave Barrett Party Social Credit New Democratic Leader since 1973 1969 Leader's seat South Okanagan Coquitlam (lost re-election) Last election 10 seats, 31.16% 38 seats, 39.59% Seats won 35 18 Seat change 25 20 Popular vote 635,482 505,396 Percentage 49.25% 39.16% Swing 18.09 0.43   Third party Fourth party   BCLP PC Leader Gordon Gibson George Scott Wallace Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1975 1973 Leader's seat North Vancouver-Capilano Oak Bay Last election 5 seats, 16.40% 2 seats, 12.67% Seats won 1 1 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 93,397 49,796 Percentage 7.24% 3.86% Swing 9.16 8.81
Premier before election Dave Barrett New Democratic Premier after election Bill Bennett Social Credit

The governing New Democratic Party of Dave Barrett was defeated after three years in government. Bill Bennett, son of long-time Social Credit Party leader and BC premier, W.A.C. Bennett, led Social Credit back to power, winning close to half of the popular vote, and a solid majority in the legislature.

Voters abandoned the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties as the centre and right-wing vote coalesced around Social Credit. The defeated social democratic NDP suffered only a marginal decrease in its vote share. However, NDP support outside Vancouver tailed off, resulting in a 20-seat loss. Barrett was one of the casualties; he was narrowly defeated by a Socred challenger (though he returned to the legislature a few months later in a by-election).

This was the last election until 2024 that the Conservative Party won a seat.

Results

Summary of the 1975 Legislative Assembly of British Columbia election results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1972	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Social Credit	Bill Bennett	55	10	35	+250%	635,482	49.25%	+18.09%
	New Democratic	Dave Barrett	55	38	18	-52.6%	505,396	39.16%	-0.43%
	Liberal	Gordon Gibson	49	5	1	-80.0%	93,379	7.24%	-9.16%
	Progressive Conservative	George Scott Wallace	29	2	1	-50.0%	49,796	3.86%	-8.81%
	Independent		12	-	-	-	4,688	0.36%	+0.26%
	Communist		13	-	-	-	1,441	0.11%	+0.03%
	North American Labour		4	*	-	*	141	0.01%	*
	Revolutionary Marxist Group		3	*	-	*	94	0.01%	*
	League for Socialist Action		1	*	-	*	34	x	*
Total			221	55	55	-	1,290,451	100%
Source:

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Popular vote Social Credit   49.25% NDP   39.16% Liberal   7.24% PC   3.86% Others   0.49%

Seats summary Social Credit   63.64% NDP   32.73% Liberal   1.82% PC   1.82%

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading

• Saywell, John, ed. (1976). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1975. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781442671898.