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1924 British Columbia general election

The 1924 British Columbia general election was the sixteenth general election in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on May 10, 1924, and held on June 20, 1924. The new legislature met for the first time on November 3, 1924.

1924 British Columbia general election
← 1920 June 20, 1924 1928 →
48 seats to the 16th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
25 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader John Oliver William John Bowser Alexander Duncan McRae
Party Liberal Conservative Provincial
Last election 25 seats, 37.89% 15 seats, 31.20% Did not contest
Seats won 23 17 3
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 2 Increase 3
Popular vote 108,323 101,765 83,517
Percentage 31.34% 29.45% 24.16%
Swing Decrease 6.55pp Decrease 1.75pp Did not contest
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
CLP
IL
Party Canadian Labour Independent Liberal
Last election Did not contest 0 seats, 0.97%
Seats won 3 2
Seat change Increase 3 Increase 2
Popular vote 39,044 3,549
Percentage 11.30% 1.03%
Swing Did not contest Increase 0.06pp
Premier before election

John Oliver
Liberal

Premier after election

John Oliver
Liberal

The Liberal Party was re-elected to its third term in government, falling just short of a majority in the legislature even though it won less than a third of the popular vote. Two Independent Liberals were also elected. Premier John Oliver lost his own seat in Victoria City, but remained Premier until 1927.

The Conservative Party formed the official opposition, while two new parties, the Provincial Party and the Canadian Labour Party won three seats each, and a total of 35% of the vote.

1923 redistribution of ridings

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An Act was passed in 1923, providing for an increase in the seats in the Assembly from 47 to 48 upon the next election.[1] The following changes were made:

Abolished ridings New ridings
Drawn from other ridings
Merger of districts
Renaming of districts
  1. ^ from part of Nelson
  2. ^ from part of New Westminster

Campaign

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The Provincial Party, which nominated candidates only in 1924, was formed by a group of British Columbia Conservative Party dissidents known as the "Committee of 100", led and funded by the wealthy General Alexander McRae and political elements from the United Farmers of British Columbia. McRae claimed that the Liberal government of John Oliver and the previous administrations of Conservative Premier William John Bowser, then the opposition leader, were corrupt. Many of his allegations were related to the funding of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway plan to reach Prince George in the Northern interior of the province, which was not achieved until many years later. He claimed that there were kickbacks, patronage and various wrongdoings. His allegations were never proven. The election was bitterly fought with sensational allegations against all three leaders. McRae was not elected. Both Bowser and Oliver lost their seats but Oliver continued to lead his Liberal Party as Premier of a minority government after the election.[2]

In the single-member districts, there was only one two-way contest, and most were either two- or three-way battles:

Candidate contests in the ridings[3]
Candidates nominated Ridings Party
Lib Con Prov Lab Ind-Lib Ind Soc Ind-Con Farm-Lab Totals
Single-member districts 2 1 1 1 2
3 26 24 25 24 1 2 1 1 78
4 10 10 10 10 5 2 1 2 40
5 1 1 1 1 1 1 5
Multiple-member districts Vancouver (6 MLAs) 1 6 6 6 5 1 1 1 1 27
Victoria (4 MLAs) 1 4 4 4 3 1 16
Total 40 46 47 45 15 5 3 2 4 1 168

Aftermath

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All three major party leaders had lost their races. In McRae's case, he missed becoming MLA in Vancouver City only because his fellow candidate Andrew McCreight Creery obtained 63 more votes.[4] In an August byelection, Oliver gained a seat in Nelson when Kenneth Campbell chose to stand aside.[4] Bowser decided to retire from politics, and Robert Henry Pooley (Esquimalt) was selected as the new Conservative leader.[4]

The Provincial and Labour members would support critical portions of the Liberal legislative programme in the following session of the Legislature.[4]

Results

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Elections to the 16th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1924)[5]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1920 1924 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Liberal John Oliver 46 25 23 2  108,323 25,844  31.34 6.55 
Conservative William Bowser 47 15 17 2  101,765 8,710  29.45 1.75 
Provincial Alexander Duncan McRae 45 – 3 3  83,517 83,517  24.16 New
  Canadian Labour[a 1]   15 3 3   39,044 6,814  11.30 2.20 
Independent Liberal   5 – 2 2  3,549 116  1.03 0.06 
Independent   3 3 – 3  2,520 34,216  0.73 9.64 
  People's Party   – 1 – 1  Did not campaign
Socialist   2 – – – 4,364 8,022  1.26 2.24 
Independent Conservative   4 – – – 2,046 444  0.59 0.14 
Farmer–Labour   1 – – – 478 478  0.14 New
Total 168 47 48 345,608 100.00%
  1. ^ compared with 1920 results for its predecessor Federated Labour
Seats and popular vote by party[5]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Liberal
23 / 48
31.34%
 -6.55
 
█ Conservative
17 / 48
29.45%
 -1.75
 
█ Provincial
3 / 48
24.16%
 24.16 24.16
 
█ Federated Labour/Canadian Labour
3 / 48
11.30%
 2.20 2.2
 
█ Socialist
0 / 48
1.26%
 -2.24
 
█ Independent
0 / 48
0.73%
 -9.64
 
█ Soldier/GAUV
0 / 48
0.00%
 -4.58
 
█ Other
2 / 48
1.76%
 -1.60
 

MLAs elected

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Synopsis of results

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Results by riding - 1924 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[6]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1920 Party Votes Share Margin
# 		Margin
% 		Lib Con Prov CLP I-Lib Ind Oth Total
 
Alberni Ind I-Lib 828 42.48% 46 2.35% – 339 781 – 828 – – 1,949
Atlin Lib Lib 463 38.71% 83 6.94% 463 353 380 – – – – 1,196
Burnaby New CLP 1,567 31.22% 243 4.85% 1,324 974 1,155 – 1,567 – – 5,020
Cariboo Lib Prov 493 37.81% 79 6.06% 414 397 493 – – – – 1,304
Chilliwack Lib Lib 1,429 37.83% 148 3.91% 1,429 1,067 1,281 – – – – 3,777
Columbia Lib Lib 644 56.84% 350 30.89% 644 294 195 – – – – 1,133
Comox PP I-Lib 1,261 43.95% 446 15.54% – 815 793 – 1,261 – – 2,869
Cowichan-Newcastle New Con 1,246 31.26% 114 2.86% 738 1,246 870 1,132 – – – 3,986
Cranbrook Lib Con 1,326 55.53% 264 11.06% 1,062 1,326 – – – – – 2,388
Creston New Con 879 49.97% 396 22.51% 483 879 397 – – – – 1,759
Delta Lib Lib 1,677 46.13% 424 11.66% 1,677 1,253 633 – 72 – – 3,635
Dewdney Con Con 1,259 36.60% 13 0.38% 1,246 1,259 935 – – – – 3,440
Esquimalt Con Con 1,280 46.36% 655 23.72% 625 1,280 515 – – – 341 2,761
Fernie FLP CLP 1,002 40.18% 151 6.06% 641 851 – 1,002 – – – 2,494
Fort George Lib Lib 1,080 46.67% 52 2.24% 1,080 1,028 206 – – – – 2,314
Grand Forks-Greenwood New Con 750 43.53% 108 6.27% 642 750 331 – – – – 1,723
The Islands Lib Con 583 34.17% 2 0.11% 542 583 581 – – – – 1,706
Kamloops Lib Lib 1,212 41.38% 215 7.34% 1,212 997 720 – – – – 2,929
Kaslo-Slocan New Lib 799 39.11% 199 9.74% 799 384 600 260 – – – 2,043
Lillooet Con Lib 626 42.56% 104 7.07% 626 323 522 – – – – 1,471
Mackenzie New Con 742 41.45% 95 5.27% 647 742 401 – – – – 1,790
Nanaimo Lib Lib 1,612 46.35% 529 15.21% 1,612 642 141 – – – 1,083 3,478
Nelson Con Lib 902 43.14% 191 9.14% 902 711 – – – – 478 2,091
New Westminster Lib Lib 1,564 37.61% 254 6.10% 1,564 1,310 591 693 – – – 4,158
North Okanagan Lib Lib 1,362 33.20% 292 7.12% 1,362 907 1,070 – – – 764 4,103
North Vancouver Ind Lib 1,283 31.34% 120 2.93% 1,283 442 1,151 – 1,163 55 – 4,094
Omineca Lib Lib 592 44.08% 139 10.35% 592 298 453 – – – – 1,343
Prince Rupert Lib Lib 920 55.89% 255 15.49% 920 – 61 – – – 665 1,646
Revelstoke Lib Lib 1,099 59.05% 505 27.13% 1,099 594 168 – – – – 1,861
Richmond-Point Grey Con Prov 2,141 35.34% 78 1.29% 1,855 2,063 2,141 – – – – 6,059
Rossland-Trail New Con 938 48.88% 393 20.48% 545 938 436 – – – – 1,919
Saanich Lib Con 1,433 47.43% 521 17.24% 912 1,433 676 – – – – 3,021
Salmon Arm New Con 920 36.83% 96 3.84% 754 920 824 – – – – 2,498
Similkameen Con Con 1,306 39.56% 82 2.48% 771 1,306 1,224 – – – – 3,301
Skeena New Lib 794 50.41% 259 16.44% 794 246 535 – – – – 1,575
South Okanagan Con Con 2,009 52.98% 691 18.22% 1,318 2,009 340 125 – – – 3,792
South Vancouver FLP CLP 1,971 38.74% 687 13.50% 1,141 1,284 692 1,971 – – – 5,088
Yale Con Lib 1,148 46.09% 383 15.38% 1,148 765 578 – – – – 2,491
  = 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
  = endorsed by Provincial Party
  = endorsed by Conservative Party
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates
Results by riding - 1924 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[6]
Party Vancouver City Victoria City
Votes Share Change Votes Share Change
Liberal 58,261 30.71% -8.26% 15,195 29.40% -7.55%
Provincial 51,596 27.19% New 9,050 17.51% New
Conservative 45,685 24.08% -5.88% 23,075 44.65% 11.86%
  Canadian Labour 29,654 15.63% 4.69% 2,640 5.11% 2.86%
Socialist 3,281 1.73% -4.06% – – –
Independent 750 0.40% -7.58% 1,715 3.32% -5.00%
Independent Conservative 276 0.15% New – – –
Independent Liberal 225 0.12% New – – -3.79%
  Grand Army of United Veterans – – -2.69% – – –
Women's Freedom League – – -2.06% – – –
Vancouver Ratepayers Association – – -1.63% – – –
Soldier–Labour – – – – – -9.88%
Liberty League of BC – – – – – - 4.57%
Independent Soldier – – – – – -1.44%
Total 189,728 100.00% 51,675 100.00%
Seats won
  5
  1
  4
Incumbents returned
  2
  1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Constitution Act Amendment Act, 1923, S.B.C. 1923, c. 6
  2. ^ Margaret A. Ormsby (1958). British Columbia: A History. MacMillan: Vancouver. p. 420.
  3. ^ Elections BC 1988, pp. 151–155.
  4. ^ a b c d Hopkins 1925, p. 444.
  5. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 139, 149.
  6. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 141–144, 151–155.

Further reading

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