British Columbia Liberal Party

The British Columbia Liberal Party (usually called the BC Liberal Party) is a right-of-centre provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada, differing from some other right-of-centre parties in being fiscally conservative and socially moderate (or neoliberal). The party has often remained separate from the federal Liberal Party of Canada, and is currently not formally linked to the federal party. The party is probably best described as a coalition of many ideological groups, united by an opposition to the New Democratic Party (NDP), and in favour of bringing more free market reforms to the province.

Election results

Notes:

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(1) The Liberal Party elected one candidate by acclamation.

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(2) One candidate is counted twice: J. Oliver (Liberal) contested but was defeated in both Delta and Victoria City.

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(3) One candidate, H.C. Brewster (Liberal) who contested and was elected in both Alberni and Victoria City, is counted twice.

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(4) One member elected by acclamation. One candidate, J. Oliver, who contested and was elected in both Delta and Victoria City is counted twice.

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(5) After the election, a Coalition government was formed by the Conservative and Liberal members. T.D. Patullo, Liberal leader, objected, stepped down, and sat as a Liberal, giving the Coalition 32 seats.

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(6) In the 1945 and 1949 elections, the Liberal Party ran in coalition with the Conservative Party. Results compared to Liberal + Conservative total from previous election.

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(7) The 1952 and 1953 elections used the alternative voting system. Rather than marking the ballot with an X, numbers were to be placed opposite the names in order of choice. If, after the first count, no candidate received an absolute simple majority, the candidate with the least number of votes was dropped, and the second choices distributed among the remaining candidates. This process continued until a candidate emerged with the requisite majority vote. Some voters only indicated a first choice (plumping), and others did not utilize the full range available. Consequently as the counts progressed, some ballots would be exhausted and total valid votes would decline, thereby reducing the absolute majority required to be elected. In multi-member ridings, there were as many ballots as members to be elected, distinguished by colour and letters.

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