1928 British Columbia general election

The 1928 British Columbia general election was the seventeenth 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 June 7, 1928, and held on July 18, 1928. The new legislature met for the first time on January 22, 1929.

1928 British Columbia general election

← 1924 July 18, 1928 1933 →

48 seats to the 17th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
25 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
BCLP
ILP
Leader Simon Fraser Tolmie John Duncan MacLean
Party Conservative Liberal Independent Labour
Leader's seat Saanich[a] Victoria City
Last election 17 seats, 29.45% 23 seats, 31.34% Did not contest
Seats won 35 12 1
Seat change Increase 18 Decrease 11 Increase 1
Popular vote 192,867 144,872 17,908
Percentage 53.30% 40.04% 4.95%
Swing Increase 23.85pp Increase 8.70pp Did not contest

Premier before election

John Duncan MacLean
Liberal

Premier after election

Simon Fraser Tolmie
Conservative

The Conservative Party defeated the governing Liberal Party, taking over half the popular vote, and 35 of the 48 seats in the legislature. The Liberals' popular vote also increased significantly, but because of the disappearance of the Provincial Party and the Canadian Labour Party, which had won over 35% of the vote together in the previous election, the Liberals were defeated. To date this remains the final election in British Columbia history where the Conservative Party would achieve power in its own right.

Results

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Elections to the 17th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1928)[1]
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1924 1928 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Conservative Simon Fraser Tolmie 48 17 35 18  192,867 91,102  53.30 23.85 
Liberal John Duncan MacLean 45 23 12 11  144,872 36,549  40.04 8.70 
Independent Labour[b] 10 3 1 2  18,224 20,820  5.04 6.26 
Provincial 3 3  83,517  24.16 
Independent Liberal 2 2 2  1,001 2,548  0.28 0.75 
Independent 9 3,658 1,138  1.01 0.28 
Independent Conservative 2 1,064 982  0.29 0.30 
Independent Farmer 1 128 128   0.04 New
Total 117 48 48 361,814 100.00%
Rejected ballots[2] 3,259
Actual voters who voted[2] 174,934 71.33%
Registered voters[2] 245,240
Seats and popular vote by party[1]
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
 Conservative
35 / 48
53.30%
23.85 23.85
 
 Liberal
12 / 48
40.04%
8.70 8.7
 
 Independent Labour/Canadian Labour
1 / 48
5.04%
-6.26
 
 Provincial
0 / 48
0%
-24.16
 
 Socialist
0 / 48
0%
-1.26
 
 Other
0 / 48
1.62%
-0.87
 

MLAs elected

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Synopsis of results

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Results by riding – 1928 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)[3]
Riding Winning party Votes
Name 1924 Party Votes Share Margin # Margin % Con Lib ILP Ind Oth Total
 
Alberni I-Lib Lib 1,208 48.71% 186 7.50% 1,022 1,208 250 2,480
Atlin Lib Lib 587 50.56% 45 3.88% 542 587 32 1,161
Burnaby CLP Con 2,144 40.81% 365 6.94% 2,144 1,779 1,330 5,253
Cariboo Prov Con 623 44.00% 223 15.75% 623 400 393 1,416
Chilliwack Lib Con 2,595 55.51% 515 11.02% 2,595 2,080 4,675
Columbia Lib Lib 659 50.23% 32 2.44% 627 659 26 1,312
Comox I-Lib Con 2,058 53.85% 561 14.68% 2,058 1,497 267 3,822
Cowichan-Newcastle Con Con 2,360 58.17% 753 18.56% 2,360 1,607 90 4,057
Cranbrook Con Lib 1,833 52.46% 172 4.92% 1,661 1,833 3,494
Creston Con Con 1,184 54.76% 206 9.52% 1,184 978 2,162
Delta Lib Con 2,562 55.73% 527 11.46% 2,562 2,035 4,597
Dewdney Con Con 2,751 58.57% 805 17.14% 2,751 1,946 4,697
Esquimalt Con Con 1,806 62.10% 729 25.06% 1,806 1,077 25 2,908
Fernie CLP ILP 1,639 59.80% 537 19.60% 1,102 1,639 2,741
Fort George Lib Con 1,487 51.61% 93 3.22% 1,487 1,394 2,881
Grand Forks-Greenwood Con Con 888 52.92% 98 5.84% 888 790 1,678
The Islands Con Con 1,148 62.70% 465 25.40% 1,148 683 1,831
Kamloops Lib Con 1,531 50.25% 15 0.50% 1,531 1,516 3,047
Kaslo-Slocan Lib Con 1,169 51.23% 56 2.46% 1,169 1,113 2,282
Lillooet Lib Con 1,237 54.61% 209 9.22% 1,237 1,028 2,265
Mackenzie Con Con 1,266 51.03% 51 2.06% 1,266 1,215 2,481
Nanaimo Lib Lib 1,366 40.67% 65 1.94% 1,301 1,366 585 107 3,359
Nelson Lib Con 1,338 53.07% 155 6.14% 1,338 1,183 2,521
New Westminster Lib Lib 3,262 56.16% 716 12.32% 2,546 3,262 5,808
North Okanagan Lib Con 2,361 54.03% 480 10.99% 2,361 1,881 128 4,370
North Vancouver Lib Lib 2,498 46.60% 32 0.60% 2,466 2,498 397 5,361
Omineca Lib Lib 889 57.21% 224 14.42% 665 889 1,554
Prince Rupert Lib Lib 1,370 51.78% 94 3.56% 1,276 1,370 2,646
Revelstoke Lib Lib 1,170 56.36% 264 12.72% 906 1,170 2,076
Richmond-Point Grey Prov Con 5,414 62.16% 2,118 24.32% 5,414 3,296 8,710
Rossland-Trail Con Con 1,686 58.12% 471 16.24% 1,686 1,215 2,901
Saanich Con Con 2,379 56.44% 543 12.88% 2,379 1,836 4,215
Salmon Arm Con Con 1,706 73.25% 1,083 46.50% 1,706 623 2,329
Similkameen Con Con 2,079 55.53% 414 11.06% 2,079 1,665 3,744
Skeena Lib Lib 910 54.33% 145 8.66% 765 910 1,675
South Okanagan Con Con 2,145 56.08% 465 12.16% 2,145 1,680 3,825
South Vancouver CLP Con 2,452 47.45% 471 9.12% 2,452 696 1,981 39 5,168
Yale Lib Lib 1,514 57.22% 382 14.44% 1,132 1,514 2,646
  = 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
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates
Results by riding – 1928 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)[3]
Party Vancouver City Victoria City
Votes Share Change Votes Share Change
Conservative 98,382 54.59% 30.51% 30,105 52.40% 7.74%
Liberal 70,602 39.18% 8.47% 25,078 43.65% 14.24%
  Independent Labour 10,249 5.69% -9.94% 316 0.55 -4.56%
Independent Liberal 976 0.54% 0.42%
Independent Conservative -0.15% 1,064 1.85% 1.85%
Independent -0.40% 894 1.56% -1.76%
Provincial -27.19% -17.51%
Socialist -1.73%
Total 180,209 100.00% 57,457 100.00%
Seats won
  6
  4
Incumbents returned
  3

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Not the incumbent, but stood in this seat and won
  2. ^ Compared with 1920 results for its predecessor Canadian Labour

Further reading

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  • An Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871-1986 (PDF). Victoria: Elections British Columbia. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
  • Lemieux, Rodolphe; Nichol, Walter C.; Colquhoun, A. H. U.; Carrel, Frank, eds. (1928). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1927–28. Toronto: The Annual Review Company.
  1. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 149, 159.
  2. ^ a b c Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
  3. ^ a b Elections BC 1988, pp. 151–155, 161–164.