1912 British Columbia general election
The 1912 British Columbia general election was the thirteenth 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 February 27, 1912, and held on March 28, 1912. The new legislature met for the first time on January 16, 1913.
The governing Conservative Party increased its share of the popular vote to almost 60%, and swept all but 3 of the 42 seats in the legislature. Of the remaining three, one (Harold Ernest Forster in Columbia) was formally listed as an Independent but was a Conservative who had missed the filing date. He campaigned and sat in full support of the McBride government.
The Liberal Party's share of the vote fell from one-third to one-quarter, and it lost both of its seats in the legislature.
The remaining two seats were won by the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party in the coal-mining ridings of Nanaimo City and Newcastle.
Results
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates |
Seats | Popular vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
| Conservative 1 | Richard McBride | 42 | 38 | 39 | +2.6% | 50,423 | 59.65% | +7.32% | |
| Socialist | 17 | 2 | 1 | - | 9,366 | 11.08% | -0.42% | ||
| Independent Conservative | 7 | - | 1 | - | 1,163 | 1.37% | +1.22% | ||
| Social Democratic | 1 | * | 1 | * | 621 | 0.74% | * | ||
| Liberal | Harlan Carey Brewster | 19 | 2 | - | -100% | 21,443 | 25.37% | -7.84% | |
| Independent | 2 | - | - | - | 1,513 | 1.79% | -0.80% | ||
| Total | 88 | 42 | 42 | - | 84,529 | 100% | |||
| Source: Elections BC | |||||||||
Notes:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
1 Since nine Conservatives were elected by acclamation, i.e., without any polling of votes, the total votes for the Conservative Party and the overall total as well as the popular vote are somewhat misleading. A potential 14,086 voters did not have the opportunity to exercise their franchise. Given a voter turnout of almost 50% in other ridings, the total number of votes could have been about 7,000 more.
Results by riding
- Identified as a Conservative but listed by the Chief Electoral Officer as an Independent. When he failed to obtain the official nomination, Forster ran as an Independent Conservative but in full support of the McBride government.
- Leader of the Conservative Party and incumbent premier
Further reading & references
- 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.
| General elections | |
|---|---|
| Municipal elections | |
| Referendums | |
See also: List of British Columbia by-elections | |
