British Columbia general election, 1956

British Columbia general election, 1956

September 19, 1956

52 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 27 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader W. A. C. Bennett Robert Strachan Arthur Laing Party Social Credit New Democratic Liberal Leader since 1952 1956 1953 Leader's seat South Okanagan Cowichan-Newcastle Vancouver-Point Grey (lost re-election) Last election 28 14 4 Seats won 39 10 2 Seat change +11 -4 -2 Popular vote 374,711 231,511 177,922 Percentage 45.84 28.32 21.77 Swing +8.09 -2.53 -1.82

Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier-designate W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit

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 CCF 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
	Social Credit	W.A.C. Bennett	52	28	39	39.3%	374,711	45.84%	+8.09%
	CCF	Bob Strachan	51	14	10	-28.6%	231,511	28.32%	-2.53%
	Liberal	Arthur Laing	52	4	2	-50.0%	177,922	21.77%	-1.82%
	Labour	Tom Uphill	1	1	1	-	1,321	0.16%	-0.06%
	Progressive Conservative	Deane Finlayson	22	1	-	-100%	25,373	3.11%	-2.49%
	Labor–Progressive		14	-	-	-	3,381	0.41%	-0.62%
	Independent		6	-	-	-	3,005	0.37%	+0.10%
	People's/Common Herd		1	*	-	*	173	0.02%	*
Total			199	48	52	8.3%	817,397	100%
Source: Elections BC

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Results by riding

Results of British Columbia general election, 1956
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
	William James Asselstine	Atlin Social Credit			Alberni CCF	Stanley John Squire
	William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd	Cariboo Social Credit			Burnaby CCF	Gordon Dowding
	William Kenneth Kiernan	Chilliwack Social Credit				Ernest Edward Winch
	Richard Orr Newton	Columbia Social Credit			Cowichan-Newcastle CCF	Robert Martin Strachan^2
	Daniel Robert John Campbell	Comox Social Credit			Cranbrook CCF	Leo Thomas Nimsick
	Thomas Irwin	Delta Social Credit			Grand Forks-Greenwood CCF	Lois Haggen
	Nehemiah George Massey				Kaslo-Slocan CCF	Randolph Harding
	Lyle Wicks	Dewdney Social Credit			Mackenzie CCF	Anthony John Gargrave
	Herbert Joseph Bruch	Esquimalt Social Credit			New Westminster CCF	Rae Eddie
	Ray Gillis Williston	Fort George Social Credit			Vancouver East CCF	Arthur James Turner
	Philip Arthur Gaglardi	Kamloops Social Credit			Fernie Labour (Party)	Thomas Aubert Uphill
	Donald Frederick Robinson	Lillooet Social Credit			Oak Bay Liberal	Philip Archibald Gibbs
	Earle Cathers Westwood	Nanaimo and the Islands Social Credit			Victoria City Liberal	George Frederick Thompson Gregory
	Wesley Drewett Black	Nelson-Creston Social Credit
	Lorne Shantz	North Okanagan Social Credit
	Harold Earle Roche	North Peace River Social Credit
	John Melvin Bryan Sr.	North Vancouver Social Credit
	Newton Phillips Steacy
	Cyril Morley Shelford	Omineca Social Credit
	William Harvey Murray	Prince Rupert Social Credit
	Arvid Waldemar Lundell	Revelstoke Social Credit
	Robert Edward Sommers	Rossland-Trail Social Credit
	John Douglas Tidball Tisdalle	Saanich Social Credit
	James Allan Reid	Salmon Arm Social Credit
	Frank Richter, Jr.	Similkameen Social Credit
	Hugh Addison Shirreff	Skeena Social Credit
	William Andrew Cecil Bennett^1	South Okanagan Social Credit
	Stanley Carnell	South Peace River Social Credit
	Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin	Vancouver-Burrard Social Credit
	Herbert Price
	Alexander Small Matthew	Vancouver Centre Social Credit
	Leslie Raymond Peterson
	Frederick Morton Sharp	Vancouver East Social Credit
	Thomas Audley Bate	Vancouver-Point Grey Social Credit
	Buda Hosmer Brown
	William Neelands Chant	Victoria City Social Credit
	John Donald Smith
	Irvine Finlay Corbett	Yale Social Credit
	^1 Premier-Elect	^2 Leader of the Opposition
Source: Elections BC

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties