41st British Columbia general election

41st British Columbia general election
British Columbia
On May 9, 2017 (2017-05-09)
87 seats in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
44 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
 
Leader Christy Clark John Horgan
Party Liberal New Democratic
Leader since February 26, 2011 May 4, 2014
Leader's seat Westside-Kelowna Juan de Fuca
Last election 49 seats, 44.14% 34 seats, 39.71%
Current seats 48 35
 
Leader Andrew Weaver Vacant
Party Green Conservative
Leader since December 9, 2015 N/A
Leader's seat Oak Bay-Gordon Head N/A
Last election 1 seat, 8.13% 0 seats, 4.76%
Current seats 1 0
Incumbent Premier

Christy Clark
Liberal

The 41st British Columbia general election is tentatively scheduled for May 9, 2017, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It will take place after the Premier of British Columbia formally advises the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislative Assembly.

Timing

Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the second Tuesday in May of the fourth calendar year after the last election.[1] As an election was held on May 14, 2013, the next election will be scheduled for May 9, 2017. The same section, though, makes the fixed election date subject to the Lieutenant Governor's right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as he or she sees fit (in practice, on the advice of the Premier).[1]

Background

In the 2013 general election, the BC Liberal Party under the leadership of Premier Christy Clark were re-elected with a majority government. The New Democratic Party, under the leadership of Adrian Dix, again formed the Official Opposition with a slightly reduced total of 34 seats. Despite the victory, Clark was defeated by NDP candidate David Eby in her riding, and was re-elected in a by-election in Westside-Kelowna.[2] The Green Party, under the leadership of Jane Sterk, won its first seat in the legislature, though Sterk herself was not elected. Dix resigned as NDP leader following the election, and was succeeded by John Horgan.[3] On August 13, 2013 Sterk announced she would resign as Green Party leader,[4] Adam Olsen was appointed interim leader on August 25, 2013.[5] The Conservative Party, under the leadership of John Cummins, failed to win a seat and Cummins resigned after the Westside-Kelowna by-election. On February 2, 2016 two By elections occurred in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain.

Retiring incumbents

Liberals
New Democrats

Current standings

Summary of the current standings of the
Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Party Party leader Seats
2013 Current
Liberal Christy Clark 49 48
New Democratic John Horgan 34 35
Green Andrew Weaver 1 1
  Independent 1 1
  Vacant 0
Total 85 85

Opinion polls

Polling firm Last date of polling Link Lib. NDP Green Cons. Other Type of poll Sample size
Insights West November 14, 2015 HTML 34 39 16 7 4 online 812
Insights West May 19, 2015 HTML 37 43 10 6 4 online 801
Ipsos Reid May 12, 2015 HTML 41 44 8 7 2 online 804
Insights West December 6, 2014 HTML 36 40 14 8 2 online 805
McAllister Opinion Research July 29, 2014 PDF 36.0 36.3 17.5 9.1 1.0 online 1,704
Insights West May 10, 2014 HTML 38 39 14 8 1 online 824
Justason Market Intelligence January 19, 2014 HTML 37 35 19 7 1 telephone/online 600
Insights West December 3, 2013 HTML 40 36 14 6 3 online 866
Election 2013 May 14, 2013 HTML 44.14 39.71 8.13 4.76 3.25 ballot 1,803,051

References

  1. 1 2 Constitution Act, s. 23.
  2. ↑ "B.C.’s Premier Christy Clark wins byelection, returns to legislature". Toronto Star, July 10, 2013.
  3. ↑ "John Horgan acclaimed as B.C. NDP leader". Vancouver Sun. May 1, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Jane Sterk resigns as Green Party leader". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  5. ↑ "Adam Olsen appointed interim leader of B.C. Green Party". CBC News. August 25, 2013. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  6. ↑ "MLA McRae stepping away". comoxvalleyrecord.com. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. ↑ "City councillor announces pursuit of Peace River North candidacy - Energeticcity.ca". Energeticcity.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-17.
  8. ↑ "B.C. NDP MLA Kathy Corrigan retiring, not running in 2017 election". cbc.ca. April 22, 2016. Retrieved 2016-04-23.

External links

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