1928 British Columbia general election

1928 British Columbia general election

July 18, 1928
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 18 11 1 Popular vote 192,867 144,872 17,908 Percentage 53.30% 40.04% 4.95% Swing 23.85pp 8.70pp Did not contest
Premier before election John Duncan MacLean Liberal Premier after election Simon Fraser Tolmie Conservative

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.

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

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

Alberni: Laurence Arnold Hanna   Atlin: Herbert Frederick Kergin   Burnaby: William Robert Rutledge   Cariboo: Roderick MacKenzie   Chilliwack: William Atkinson   Columbia: John Andrew Buckham   Comox: George Kerr McNaughton   Cowichan-Newcastle: Cyril Francis Davie   Cranbrook: Frank Mitchell MacPherson   Creston: Fred W. Lister   Delta: John Walter Berry   Dewdney: Nelson Seymour Lougheed   Esquimalt: Robert Henry Pooley   Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill (ILP)   Fort George: Frederick Parker Burden   Grand Forks-Greenwood: Charles Morgan Kingston

The Islands: Cyrus Wesley Peck   Kamloops: John Ralph Michell   Kaslo-Slocan: James Fitzsimmons   Lillooet: Ernest Crawford Carson   Mackenzie: Michael Manson   Nanaimo: William Sloan   Nelson: Lorris E. Borden   New Westminster: Wells Gray   North Okanagan: William Farris Kennedy   North Vancouver: Ian Alistair MacKenzie   Omineca: Alexander Malcolm Manson   Prince Rupert: Duff Pattullo   Revelstoke: William Henry Sutherland   Richmond-Point Grey: Samuel Lyness Howe   Rossland-Trail: James Hargrave Schofield   Saanich: Simon Fraser Tolmie

Salmon Arm: Rolf Wallgren Bruhn   Similkameen: William Alexander McKenzie   Skeena: Horace Cooper Wrinch   South Okanagan: James William Jones   South Vancouver: Jonathan Webster Cornett   Vancouver City: William Dick   Vancouver City: Thomas Henry Kirk   Vancouver City: Royal Maitland   Vancouver City: William Curtis Shelly   Vancouver City: Nelson Spencer   Vancouver City: George Alexander Walkem   Victoria City: James Harry Beatty   Victoria City: Reginald Hayward   Victoria City: Joshua Hinchcliffe   Victoria City: Harold Despard Twigg   Yale: John Joseph Alban Gillis

Synopsis of results

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

• List of British Columbia political parties

Notes

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

Further reading

• 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. Elections BC 1988, pp. 149, 159.
2. Elections BC 1988, p. 2.
3. Elections BC 1988, pp. 151–155, 161–164.