British Columbia general election, 1952

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The British Columbia general election, 1952 was the 23rd 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 April 10 1952, and held on June 12 1952. The new legislature met for the first time on February 3 1953.

This was the first election to use the alternative voting system. Rather than marking the ballot with an X, numbers were to be placed opposite the names in order of choice. If, after the first count, no candidate received an absolute simple majority, the candidate with the least number of votes was dropped, and the second choices distributed among the remaining candidates. This process continued until a candidate emerged with the requisite majority vote. Some voters only indicated a first choice (plumping), and others did not utilize the full range available. Consequently as the counts progressed, some ballots would be exhausted and total valid votes would decline, thereby reducing the absolute majority required to be elected. In multi-member ridings, there were as many ballots as members to be elected, distinguished by colour and letters.

This system had been designed to enable the Conservative and Liberal parties to keep the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation out of power. Unexpectedly, this enabled Social Credit to win the largest number of seats with the benefit of second-preference ballots from CCF voters.

The British Columbia Social Credit League (BCSCL) nominated and supported the candidates (who were BCSCL members) but in assuming power, the new government referred to itself as Social Credit.

W.A.C. Bennett was a former member of the legislature who had left the Progressive Conservative Party to sit as an independent after failing in his bid to become leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1951. In December of that year, he took out a membership in the Social Credit League. Social Credit fell short of holding a majority after the election, however. Bennett had succeeded in convincing a Labour member of the Legislature (MLA) to support the party, and so the Socreds were able to form a minority government.

The party had no official leader. In a vote of the newly elected caucus, Bennett defeated Philip Gaglardi for the position of party leader and premier-elect on July 15 1952.

The centre-right coalition formed by the Liberal and Conservative parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1945 and 1949 elections split, and the two parties nominated candiates under their own names. The Conservative Party adopted the "Progressive Conservative" name used by its federal counterpart.

Results

157.1%

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1949	Elected	% Change	First count	%	Change	Final count	% |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|	Social Credit	(none)	47	align="right"
19	-	209,049	27.20%	+25.99%	203,932	30.18% |- |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Harold Winch	48	7	18	align="right"
236,562	30.78%	-4.32%	231,756	34.3% |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"|	Liberal	Byron Ingemar Johnson	48	1	6	1	180,289	23.46%	1	170,674	25.26% |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"|	Progressive Conservative	Herbert Anscomb	48	1	4	1	129,439	16.84%	1	65,285	9.66% |- |bgcolor=#EEBBBB|	Labour	Tom Uphill	1	1	1	-	1,290	0.16%	-0.05%	1,758	0.26% |- |bgcolor="#F1FFDD"|	Christian Democratic		8	*	0	*	7,176	0.93%	*	1,318	0.2% |- |bgcolor="tomato"|	Labour Progressive		5	align="right"
align="right"
-	2,514	0.33%	+0.09%	931	0.14% |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"|	Independents		5	1	align="right"
-100%	1,312	0.17%	align="right"
-	- |- |bgcolor=#EEBBBB|	Labour Representation Committee		1	*	0	*	654	0.09%	*	-	- |- | bgcolor="gold"|	Socialist		1	*	0	*	276	0.04%	*	-	-
Total			212	48	48	align="right"
768,561	100%	-	675,654	100%
Source: [Elections BC]

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ In the previous election, the Liberal and Conservative parties ran candidates jointly as "Coalition" candidates, electing 39 MLAs. The Conservatives withdrew from the coalition in 1951 hastening the government's collapse.

Results by riding

|- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd
|align="center" |Cariboo
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Alberni
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Stanley John Squire
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|William Kenneth Kiernan
|align="center" |Chilliwack
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Atlin
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Frank Calder
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Richard Orr Newton
|align="center" |Columbia
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Burnaby
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Ernest Edward Winch
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Thomas James Irwin
|align="center" |Delta
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Comox
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|William Campbell Moore |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Lyle Wicks
|align="center" |Dewdney
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Cowichan-Newcastle
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Robert Martin Strachan |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Llewllyn Leslie King
|align="center" |Fort George
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Cranbrook
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Leo Thomas Nimsick |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Philip Arthur Gaglardi
|align="center" |Kamloops
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Esquimalt
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Franklin John Trehern Mitchell |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Wesley Drewett Black
|align="center" |Nelson-Creston
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Grand Forks-Greenwood
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Rupert Williams Haggen |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Lorne Hugh Shantz
|align="center" |North Okanagan
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Kaslo-Slocan
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Randolph Harding |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Cyril Morley Shelford
|align="center" |Omineca
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Mackenzie
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Anthony John Gargrave |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Charles William Parker
|align="center" |Peace River
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |New Westminster
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|John McRae (Rae) Eddie |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Robert Edward Sommers
|align="center" |Rossland-Trail
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Prince Rupert
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|George Edwin Hills |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|James Allan Reid
|align="center" |Salmon Arm
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Revelstoke
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Vincent Segur |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Harry Denyer Francis
|align="center" |Similkameen
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" |Saanich
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Frank Snowsell |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|William Andrew Cecil Bennett
|align="center" |South Okanagan
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver Centre
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|James Campbell Bury |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver-Burrard
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center"|Laura Emma Marshall Jamieson |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin
|bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver East
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |align="center"|Arthur James Turner |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Tilly Jean Rolston
|align="center" |Vancouver-Point Grey
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |align="center"|Harold Edward Winch |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|     |- |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |align="center"|Irvine Finlay Corbett
|align="center" |Yale
BC Social Credit League |bgcolor="lightblue"|     |bgcolor=#EEBBBB|     |align="center" |Fernie
Labour |align="center"|Thomas Aubert Uphill |bgcolor=#EEBBBB|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |align="center" |Lillooet
Progressive Conservative |align="center"|Ernest Crawford Carson |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |align="center" |Nanaimo and the Islands
Progressive Conservative |align="center"|Lorenzo (Larry) Giovando |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver-Point Grey
Progressive Conservative |align="center"|Albert Reginald MacDougall |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |align="center"|George Clark Miller |bgcolor="#9999FF"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center" |Skeena
Liberal |align="center"|Edward Tourtellotte Kenney |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center" |North Vancouver
Liberal |align="center"|Martin Elliott Sowden |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center" |Oak Bay
Liberal |align="center"|Philip Archibald Gibbs |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center" rowspan=3 |Victoria City
Liberal |align="center"|Nancy Hodges |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center"|Daniel John Proudfoot |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | | | | |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |align="center"|William Thomas Straith |bgcolor="lightcoral"|     |- | |align="center" | |align="center"| |- |- | align="center" colspan="10"|Source: [Elections BC] |- |}

See also