1966 British Columbia general election

The 1966 British Columbia general election was the 28th 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 5, 1966, and held on September 12, 1966. The new legislature met for the first time on January 24, 1967.

The conservative Social Credit Party was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a sixth term in government. It increased its share of the popular vote by close to five percentage points to over 45%, and winning the same number of seats (33) as in the previous election.

The opposition New Democratic Party also increased its share of the popular vote by over five percentage points, but won only two additional seats.

The Liberal Party won about 20% of the popular vote, and one additional seat, for a total of six.

The Progressive Conservative Party was virtually wiped out: it nominated only three candidates (down from 44 in the previous election), and its share of the popular vote fell from over 11% to a negligible amount.

1966 redistribution of ridings

An Act was passed in 1966 providing for an increase of seats from 52 to 55, upon the next election. The following changes were made:

{| class="wikitable"

! Abolished ridings !! New ridings

! colspan="2"|Renaming of districts

Columbia

Columbia River

Salmon Arm

Shuswap

! colspan="2"|Reduction of multi-member district

Victoria City (3 MLAs)

Victoria City (2 MLAs)

! colspan="2"|Merger of districts

Cranbrook
Fernie

Kootenay

Grand Forks-Greenwood
Similkameen

Boundary-Similkameen

Kaslo-Slocan
Revelstoke

Revelstoke-Slocan

Lillooet
Yale

Yale-Lillooet

! colspan="2"|Reorganization of districts

Cowichan-Newcastle
Nanaimo and the Islands
Saanich

Cowichan-Malahat
Nanaimo
Saanich and the Islands

! colspan="2"|Division of districts

Burnaby (2 MLAs)

Burnaby-Edmonds
Burnaby North
Burnaby-Willingdon

Delta (2 MLAs)

Richmond
Delta
Langley
Surrey

Dewdney

Coquitlam
Dewdney

North Vancouver (2 MLAs)

North Vancouver-Capilano
North Vancouver-Seymour
West Vancouver-Howe Sound

Vancouver-Point Grey (3 MLAs)

Vancouver-Little Mountain (2 MLAs)
Vancouver-Point Grey (2 MLAs)
Vancouver South (2 MLAs)

Results

! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party

! rowspan=2 | Party leader

! colspan=4 | MLAs

! colspan=4 | Votes

! Candidates

!1963

!1966

!±

! ±

! ± (pp)

|style="text-align:left;" |W.A.C. Bennett

| 55 || 33 || 33 || || 342,751 || 52,328 || 45.59 || 4.76

|style="text-align:left;" |Bob Strachan

| 55 || 14 || 16 || 2 || 252,753 || 16,251 || 33.62 || 5.82

|style="text-align:left;" |Ray Perrault

| 53 || 5 || 6 || 1 || 152,155 || 41,208 || 20.24 || 0.26

|style="text-align:left;" |

| 3 || – || – || – || 1,409 || 107,681 || 0.18 || 11.09

| || 6 || – || – || – || 1,097 || 248 || 0.14 || 0.05

| || 6 || – || – || – || 1,711 || 1,421 || 0.23 || 0.20

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total

| 178

| 52

! colspan="2"| 55

! colspan="2"|751,876

! colspan="2"| 100.00%

| colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots

| 7,056 ||924

| colspan="2"|

| colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Actual voters who voted

| 596,716 ||11,956

| 68.28% || 1.43

| colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered voters

| 873,927 ||787

| colspan="2"|

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"

|+ Seats and popular vote by party

! Party !! Seats !! Votes !! colspan="3" | Change (pp)

| style="text-align:left;" |

MLAs elected

Single-member districts<br />

Multi-member districts<br />

Synopsis of results

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" style="text-align:right; font-size:85%"

|+ Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)

! scope="col" | Riding

! scope="col" colspan="8" | Winning party

! scope="col" colspan="7" | Votes

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Name

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" scope="col" | 1963

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" scope="col" |Party

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Votes

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Share

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Margin<br />#

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Margin<br />%

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | NDP

! scope="col" | Lib

! scope="col" | PC

! scope="col" |

! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Total

! scope="col" style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#F4A460;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#A51B12;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#9999FF;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#FF6347;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|

!   !! colspan="2"| !! colspan="2"| !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

|style="text-align:left"| Alberni

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,039 || 55.55% || 1,718 || 15.80% || 6,039 || style="background-color:#DCD0FF;"|4,321 || 511 || – || – || – || 10,871

|style="text-align:left"| Atlin

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 572 || 59.71% || 311 || 32.47% || 261 || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|572 || 125 || – || – || – || 958

|style="text-align:left"| Boundary-Similkameen

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,547 || 55.44% || 2,878 || 24.37% || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|6,547 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|3,669 || 1,594 || – || – || – || 11,810

|style="text-align:left"| Burnaby-Edmonds

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 5,748 || 48.71% || 1,118 || 9.48% || 4,630 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|5,748 || 1,423 || – || – || – || 11,801

|style="text-align:left"| Burnaby North

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 6,984 || 49.72% || 1,879 || 13.38% || 5,105 || 6,984 || 1,957 || – || – || – || 14,046

|style="text-align:left"| Burnaby-Willingdon

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 6,153 || 44.47% || 524 || 3.78% || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|5,629 || 6,153 || 2,053 || – || – || – || 13,835

|style="text-align:left"| Cariboo

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 3,830 || 54.10% || 1,300 || 18.36% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|3,830 || 2,530 || 719 || – || – || – || 7,079

|style="text-align:left"| Chilliwack

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 7,703 || 63.17% || 4,622 || 37.91% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|7,703 || 3,081 || 1,411 || – || – || – || 12,195

|style="text-align:left"| Columbia River

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 1,563 || 58.45% || 929 || 34.74% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|1,563 || 477 || 634 || – || – || – || 2,674

|style="text-align:left"| Comox

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 5,449 || 49.39% || 1,140 || 10.34% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|5,449 || 4,309 || 1,276 || – || – || – || 11,033

|style="text-align:left"| Coquitlam

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 9,517 || 55.20% || 3,452 || 20.02% || 6,065 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|9,517 || 1,658 || – || – || – || 17,240

|style="text-align:left"| Cowichan-Malahat

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 5,646 || 52.08% || 1,234 || 11.38% || 4,412 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|5,646 || 783 || – || – || – || 10,841

|style="text-align:left"| Delta

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 7,768 || 46.46% || 1,690 || 10.11% || 7,768 || 6,078 || 1,954 || 921 || – || – || 16,721

|- style="background-color:#B9E5B9;"

|style="text-align:left"| Dewdney

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,507 || 53.42% || 1,979 || 16.25% || 6,507 || 4,528 || 1,146 || – || – || – || 12,181

|style="text-align:left"| Esquimalt

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,075 || 53.35% || 2,630 || 23.10% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|6,075 || 3,445 || 1,867 || – || – || – || 11,387

|style="text-align:left"| Fort George

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,282 || 60.42% || 3,480 || 33.47% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|6,282 || 2,802 || 1,313 || – || – || – || 10,397

|style="text-align:left"| Kamloops

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 5,753 || 52.35% || 2,516 || 22.90% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|5,753 || 3,237 || 2,000 || – || – || – || 10,990

|style="text-align:left"| Kootenay

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 3,605 || 40.98% || 535 || 6.09% || 3,070 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|3,605 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|2,123 || – || – || – || 8,798

|style="text-align:left"| Langley

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 7,206 || 58.28% || 3,307 || 26.75% || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|7,206 || 3,899 || 1,260 || – || – || – || 12,365

|style="text-align:left"| Mackenzie

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 4,945 || 52.68% || 1,359 || 14.47% || 4,945 || style="background-color:#DCD0FF;"|3,586 || 855 || – || – || – || 9,386

|style="text-align:left"| Nanaimo

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 5,625 || 47.99% || 45 || 0.38% || 5,580 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|5,625 || 516 || – || – || – || 11,721

|style="text-align:left"| Nelson-Creston

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 4,683 || 59.29% || 2,359 || 29.87% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|4,683 || 2,324 || 892 || – || – || – || 7,899

|style="text-align:left"| New Westminster

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 5,751 || 44.65% || 199 || 1.54% || 5,552 || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|5,751 || 1,577 || – || – || – || 12,880

|- style="background-color:#B9E5B9;"

|style="text-align:left"| North Okanagan

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 3,841 || 48.59% || 1,433 || 18.13% || 3,841 || 1,535 || 2,408 || – || – || 121 || 7,905

|style="text-align:left"| North Peace River

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 1,799 || 48.44% || 1,216 || 32.74% || 1,799 || 511 || 565 || – || – || style="background-color:#F0E68C;"|839 || 3,714

|style="text-align:left"| North Vancouver-Capilano

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#A51B12;" | || style="text-align:left;" | Lib

| 6,426 || 51.49% || 2,450 || 19.63% || 3,976 || 1,816 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|6,426 || 261 || – || – || 12,479

|style="text-align:left"| North Vancouver-Seymour

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#A51B12;" | || style="text-align:left;" | Lib

| 5,301 || 39.61% || 694 || 5.18% || 4,607 || 3,137 || 5,301 || 227 || 110 || – || 13,382

|style="text-align:left"| Oak Bay

| style="background-color:#A51B12;" | || style="text-align:left;" | Lib

| 8,118 || 54.48% || 2,310 || 15.51% || 5,808 || 976 || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|8,118 || – || – || – || 14,902

|style="text-align:left"| Omineca

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 2,337 || 70.16% || 1,343 || 40.32% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|2,337 || 994 || – || – || – || – || 3,331

|style="text-align:left"| Prince Rupert

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 2,647 || 52.90% || 834 || 16.67% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|2,647 || 1,813 || 544 || – || – || – || 5,004

|style="text-align:left"| Revelstoke-Slocan

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 2,158 || 44.67% || 138 || 2.86% || 2,020 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|2,158 || 548 || – || – || 105 || 4,831

|style="text-align:left"| Richmond

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 6,521 || 43.33% || 372 || 2.48% || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|6,521 || 6,149 || 2,381 || – || – || – || 15,051

|style="text-align:left"| Rossland-Trail

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 5,600 || 55.93% || 3,147 || 31.43% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|5,600 || 2,453 || 1,960 || – || – || – || 10,013

|style="text-align:left"|Saanich and the Islands

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 7,237 || 50.05% || 3,416 || 23.62% || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|7,237 || 3,821 || 3,401 || – || – || – || 14,459

|style="text-align:left"| Shuswap

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 3,995 || 54.07% || 1,400 || 18.95% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|3,995 || 2,595 || 760 || – || 39 || – || 7,389

|style="text-align:left"| Skeena

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 3,046 || 55.39% || 1,304 || 23.71% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|3,046 || 1,742 || 711 || – || – || – || 5,499

|style="text-align:left"| South Okanagan

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 8,747 || 73.15% || 6,811 || 56.96% || style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|8,747 || 1,936 || 1,274 || – || – || – || 11,957

|- style="background-color:#B9E5B9;"

|style="text-align:left"| South Peace River

| style="background-color:#ADD8E6;" | || style="text-align:left;" | SC

| 2,585 || 59.78% || 1,697 || 39.24% || 2,585 || 851 || 888 || – || – || – || 4,324

|style="text-align:left"| Surrey

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 7,039 || 48.20% || 785 || 5.38% || 6,254 || 7,039 || 1,234 || – || 77 || – || 14,604

|style="text-align:left"| West Vancouver-Howe Sound

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#A51B12;" | || style="text-align:left;" | Lib

| 8,346 || 52.76% || 2,847 || 18.00% || 5,499 || 1,975 || 8,346 || – || – || – || 15,820

|style="text-align:left"| Yale-Lillooet

| colspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New

| style="background-color:#F4A460;" | || style="text-align:left;" | NDP

| 3,885 || 55.37% || 754 || 10.74% || style="background-color:#EEBBBB;"|3,131 || style="background-color:#FFFF00;"|3,885 || – || – || – || – || 7,016

: = open seat

: = turnout is above provincial average

: = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

: = incumbent had switched allegiance

: = previously incumbent in another riding

: = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

: = incumbency arose from byelection gain

: = other incumbents renominated

: = multiple candidates

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; font-size:85%"

|+ Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)

! colspan="2" | Riding

! scope="col" colspan="2" | Winning party

! scope="col" colspan="7" | Votes

! rowspan="2" |Name

! rowspan="2" |MLAs

! rowspan="2" | 1963

! rowspan="2" |1966

! scope="col" |

! scope="col" | NDP

! scope="col" | Lib

! scope="col" | PC

! scope="col" |

! rowspan="2" scope="col" | Total

! scope="col" style="background-color:#ADD8E6;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#F4A460;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#A51B12;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#9999FF;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#FF6347;"|

! scope="col" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;"|

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver-Burrard

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" | ||rowspan="2" |

|7,584 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|9,849 ||3,190 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2"|40,386

|7,584 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|9,498 ||2,681 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver Centre

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" | ||rowspan="2" |

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|8,157 ||7,257 ||4,147 ||– ||253 ||144

|rowspan="2"|38,570

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|7,938 ||6,871 ||3,803 ||– ||– ||–

|-– ||

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver East

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" | ||rowspan="2" |

|8,644 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|12,502 ||1,637 ||– ||377 ||–

|rowspan="2"|45,521

|8,593 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|12,185 ||1,583 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver-Little Mountain

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New||rowspan="2" |

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|12,380 ||8,620 ||4,681 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2"|50,040

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|11,566 ||8,523 ||4,270 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver-Point Grey

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" | ||rowspan="2" |

|11,494 ||2,934 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|17,400 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2"|57,472

|9,284 ||2,853 ||style="background-color:lightgreen;"|13,507 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Vancouver South

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" style="background-color:#FFFFFF; text-align:center;" | New ||rowspan="2" |

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|12,259 ||9,067 ||5,698 ||– ||– ||502

|rowspan="2"|53,784

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|11,740 ||8,843 ||5,675 ||– ||– ||–

|rowspan="2" style="text-align:left"| Victoria City

|rowspan="2" |2 ||rowspan="2" | ||rowspan="2" |

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|13,068 ||5,304 ||4,774 ||– ||241 ||–

|rowspan="2"|45,315

|style="background-color:lightgreen;"|12,156 ||5,175 ||4,597 ||– ||– ||–

: = winning candidate

1966 British Columbia general election

1966 redistribution of ridings

Results

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

See also

Further reading

References