British Columbia general election, 1956
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The British Columbia general election of 1956 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.
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 Co-operative Commonwealth Federation 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.
Results
| Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Popular vote | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change |- |bgcolor="lightblue"| | Social Credit | W.A.C. Bennett | 52 | 28 | 39 | 39.3% | 374,711 | 45.84% | +8.09% |- |bgcolor="#EEDDAA"| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Bob Strachan | 51 | 14 | 10 | -28.6% | 231,511 | 28.32% | -2.53% |- |bgcolor="lightcoral"| | Liberal | Arthur Laing | 52 | 4 | 2' | align="right" |
| 177,922 | 21.77% | align="right" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Labour | Tom Uphill | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1,321 | 0.16% | -0.06% |- |bgcolor="#9999FF"| | Progressive Conservative | Deane Finlayson | 22 | 1 | align="right" | ||||||||||||||||
| -100% | 25,373 | 3.11% | -2.49% |- |bgcolor="tomato"| | Labour Progressive | 14 | align="right" | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| align="right" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 3,381 | 0.41% | -0.62% |- |bgcolor="gainsboro"| | Independent | 6 | align="right" | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| align="right" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 3,005 | 0.37% | +0.10% |- |bgcolor="white"| | People's/Common Herd | 1 | * | align="right" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| * | 173 | 0.02% | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 199 | 48 | 52 | 8.3% | 817,397 | 100% | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: [Elections BC] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note:
Results by riding
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William James Asseltine
|align="center" |Atlin
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Alberni
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Stanley John Squire
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd
|align="center" |Cariboo
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Burnaby
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Gordon Hudson Dowding
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William Kenneth Kiernan
|align="center" |Chilliwack
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center"|Ernest Edward Winch
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Richard Orr Newton
|align="center" |Columbia
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Cowichan-Newcastle
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Robert Martin Strachan2
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Daniel Robert John Campbell
|align="center" |Comox
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Cranbrook
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Leo Thomas Nimsick
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Thomas James Irwin
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Delta
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Grand Forks-Greenwood
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Lois Mabel Haggen
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Nehemiah George Massey
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Kaslo-Slocan
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Randolph Harding
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Lyle Wicks
|align="center" |Dewdney
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Mackenzie
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Anthony John Gargrave
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Herbert Joseph Bruch
|align="center" |Esquimalt
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |New Westminster
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|John McRae (Rae) Eddie
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Ray Gillis Williston
|align="center" |Fort George
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|align="center" |Vancouver East
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.
|align="center"|Arthur James Turner
|bgcolor="#EEDDAA"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Philip Arthur Gaglardi
|align="center" |Kamloops
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor=#EEBBBB|
|align="center" |Fernie
Labour (Party)
|align="center"|Thomas Aubert Uphill
|bgcolor=#EEBBBB|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Donald Frederick Robinson
|align="center" |Lillooet
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="lightcoral"|
|align="center" |Oak Bay
Liberal
|align="center"|Philip Archibald Gibbs
|bgcolor="lightcoral"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Earle Cathers Westwood
|align="center" |Nanaimo and the Islands
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|bgcolor="lightcoral"|
|align="center" |Victoria City
Liberal
|align="center"|George Frederick Thompson Gregory
|bgcolor="lightcoral"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Wesley Drewett Black
|align="center" |Nelson-Creston
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Lorne Hugh Shantz
|align="center" |North Okanagan
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Harold Earle Roche
|align="center" |North Peace River
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|John Melvin Bryan Sr.
|align="center" rowspan=2 |North Vancouver
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|- |bgcolor="lightblue"| |align="center"|Newton Phillips Steacy |bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Cyril Morley Shelford
|align="center" |Omineca
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William Harvey Murray
|align="center" |Prince Rupert
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Arvid Waldemar Lundell
|align="center" |Revelstoke
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Robert Edward Sommers
|align="center" |Rossland-Trail
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|John Douglas Tidball Tisdalle
|align="center" |Saanich
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|James Allan Reid
|align="center" |Salmon Arm
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Francis Xavier Richter
|align="center" |Similkameen
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Hugh Addison Shirreff
|align="center" |Skeena
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William Andrew Cecil Bennett1
|align="center" |South Okanagan
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Stanley Carnell
|align="center" |South Peace River
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver-Burrard
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Herbert Price
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Alexander Small Matthew
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver Centre
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Leslie Raymond Peterson
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Frederick Morton Sharp
|align="center" |Vancouver East
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Thomas Audley Bate
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Vancouver-Point Grey
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Buda Hosmer Brown
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|William Neelands Chant
|align="center" rowspan=2 |Victoria City
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|John Donald Smith
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|align="center"|Irvine Finlay Corbett
|align="center" |Yale
Social Credit
|bgcolor="lightblue"|
|-
|
|align="center"|1 Premier-Elect
|align="center"|2 Leader of the Opposition
|-
|-
| align="center" colspan="10"|Source: [Elections BC]
|-
|}
See also
- List of British Columbia political parties
| Preceded by: 1953 | British Columbia general elections | Followed by: 1960 |
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