1933 British Columbia general election

1933 British Columbia general election

← 1928 November 2, 1933 1937 →

47 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
24 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
CCF
Leader Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Robert Connell
Party Liberal Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since 1928 1933
Leader's seat Prince Rupert Victoria City
Last election 12 pre-creation
Seats won 34 7
Seat change Increase22 Increase7
Popular vote 159,131 120,185
Percentage 41.74% 31.53%
Swing Increase1.70pp pre-creation

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader William John Bowser[a] Simon Fraser Tolmie
Party Non-Partisan Independent Group Unionist
Leader since 1933 1933
Leader's seat Did not run[a] Saanich (lost re-election)
Last election Did not contest 35[b]
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Increase2 Decrease34[c]
Popular vote 38,836 15,445
Percentage 10.19% 4.05%
Swing new Decrease49.25pp[c]

Premier before election

Simon Fraser Tolmie
Conservative

Premier after election

Thomas Dufferin Pattullo
Liberal

The 1933 British Columbia general election was the eighteenth 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 September 13, 1933, and held on November 2, 1933.[1] The new legislature met for the first time on February 20, 1934.

The Liberal Party won a majority government.

The Official Opposition was formed by the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which was contesting its first election.

Because of internal discord, the provincial executive of the Conservative Party decided not to contest the election officially. Instead, each local association was to act on its own. Some candidates ran as Independents, some as Independent Conservatives. Those supporting the premier, Simon Fraser Tolmie, ran as Unionist Party of British Columbia, and those grouped around William John Bowser, a former premier, ran as the Non-Partisan Independent Group. When Bowser died on October 25, the elections in Vancouver Centre and Victoria City were postponed to November 27, and the following candidates withdrew:[2]

  • in Vancouver Centre, one each from the Unionists, NPIG and United Front
  • in Victoria City, one Unionist, three NPIG and one Independent

Other notable races include the election of Bridge River-Lillooet News publisher George Matheson Murray in Lillooet over Conservative Ernest Crawford Carson. Carson's brother Robert Henry Carson ran as a Liberal, winning Kamloops. Carson and his brother both served as cabinet ministers in later regimes. They were the sons of Robert Carson, an American who was one of the very few survivors of an Indian attack on a wagon train on the Oregon Trail and who went on to found one of the early ranches at Pavilion and whose holdings became part of the Diamond S Ranch.[3]


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