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1996 British Columbia general election

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75 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 38 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	59.11% 4.92 pp
First party Second party   Leader Glen Clark Gordon Campbell Party New Democratic Liberal Leader since 1996 1993 Leader's seat Vancouver Kingsway Vancouver-Point Grey Last election 51 seats 17 seats Seats won 39 33 Seat change 12 16 Popular vote 624,395 661,929 Percentage 39.45% 41.82% Swing 1.26 8.58   Third party Fourth party   Ref PDA Leader Jack Weisgerber Gordon Wilson Party Reform Progressive Democrat Leader since 1995 1993 Leader's seat Peace River South Powell River-Sunshine Coast Last election 0 seats pre-creation Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 146,734 90,797 Percentage 9.27% 5.74% Swing 9.09 5.74
Premier before election Glen Clark New Democratic Premier after election Glen Clark New Democratic

The 1996 British Columbia general election was the 36th provincial 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 April 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996. Voter turnout was 59.1 per cent of all eligible voters. The election is notable for producing a "false-winner" outcome, rewarding a party that got second in the popular vote with a majority government.

New Democratic Party leader and provincial premier Mike Harcourt had resigned as the result of a fundraising scandal involving one of the members of his caucus. Glen Clark was chosen by the party to replace Harcourt. While polling prior to Harcourt's resignation had shown the NDP to be on-track for a landslide defeat, Clark was able to turn their fortunes around and led the party to a second majority government, defeating the Liberal Party of Gordon Campbell, who had become leader of the Liberal Party after Gordon Wilson had been forced out of the position because of his relationship with another Liberal member of the legislature, Judi Tyabji.

After Wilson was defeated by Campbell in the convention to choose a new leader, he and Tyabji left the Liberal Party to establish the Progressive Democratic Alliance. Wilson was able to win re-election, but Tyabji was not, who went down to defeat with all of the other candidates fielded by the new party.

The once-dominant Social Credit Party collapsed. It elected Grace McCarthy as its leader in 1993, but she was unable to make a bid to get into the legislature until 1994, when she lost a by-election in the longtime Socred stronghold of Matsqui. Soon afterward, four of its remaining six members defected to Reform BC, leaving Social Credit without official status in the legislature. One more seat was lost in a by-election, reducing the party's representation to one MLA, Cliff Serwa. Serwa retired before the election, however, leaving the party with no incumbents. Party leader Larry Gillanders withdrew from the race while the campaign was in progress, saying that all right-wing parties should unite to topple the ruling NDP. The Socreds won only 0.4% of the vote and were completely shut out of the legislature. While the party still nominally existed until 2023 (with a hiatus from 2013 to 2016), it never elected another MLA.

Reform BC held on to two of its four seats.

Although the Liberals won the largest share of the popular vote, most of their votes were wasted in the outer regions of the province, and it won only 8 seats in the Vancouver area. Additionally, they suffered from vote-splitting with Reform, the Progressive Democrats, and what little remained of the Socreds. These factors allowed the NDP to win 6 more seats than the opposition Liberals, eking out a majority government. This was the last election to return an NDP majority until 2020, 24 years later.

This was also the first provincial election held in BC since the voting age was lowered from 19 to 18 in 1992.

Opinion polls

Results

Elections to the 36th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1996)

Party		Leader	Candidates	Votes						Seats
				#	±	%	Change (pp)			1991	1996	±
	New Democratic	Glen Clark	75	624,395	29,004	39.45	-1.26			51	39 / 75	12
	Liberal	Gordon Campbell	75	661,929	175,721	41.82	8.58		8.58	17	33 / 75	16
	Reform	Jack Weisgerber	75	146,734	143,701	9.27	9.09		9.09	–	2 / 75	2
	Progressive Democrat	Gordon Wilson	66	90,797	90,797	5.74	5.74		5.74	–	1 / 75	1
	Social Credit	Larry Gillanders	38	6,276	345,384	0.40	-23.65			7	0 / 75	7
	Green	Stuart Parker	71	31,511	18,861	1.99	1.13		1.13
	Independent		23	10,067	214	0.64	-0.07
	Family Coalition		14	4,150	2,840	0.26	0.17
	Natural Law		38	2,919	2,919	0.18	New
	Libertarian		17	2,041	1,181	0.13	0.07
	Conservative	Peter B. Macdonald	8	1,002	576	0.06	0.03
	Western Canada Concept	Doug Christie	5	374	277	0.02	-0.02
	Common Sense, Community, Family	Ross Ellis	5	291	291	0.02	New
	Communist		3	218	126	0.01	0.01
Total			513	1,582,704		100.00%
Rejected ballots				9,951	20,782
Turnout				1,592,655	99,455	71.50%	3.57
Registered voters				2,227,424	238,370

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

1. including spoilt ballots
2. parties receiving more than 1% of the popular vote, or fielding candidates in at least half of the constituencies, are listed separately. Family Coalition is also shown separately, as it received more votes than Natural Law while fielding fewer candidates.
3. Gulzar Singh Cheema was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba

  = 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 by-election gain

  = other incumbents renominated

  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

  = Multiple candidates

Summary analysis

Seats changing hands

Of the 75 seats, 23 were open, of which 21 had members who chose not to stand for reelection, and two arose from MLAs campaigning in another riding. Voters in only 20 seats changed allegiance from the previous election in 1991:

References

1. ^ "B.C. Voter Participation: 1983 to 2013" (PDF). Elections BC. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
2. ^ Haysom, Ian (May 1, 1996). "B.C. calls vote after budget". Calgary Herald. p. A3.
3. "Electoral History of B.C." Elections BC. May 9, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
4. McInnes, Craig (May 25, 1996). "B.C. vote too close to call, poll finds: Key to outcome may lie in how many Reformers opt for Liberals to block a win by NDP". The Globe and Mail. p. A13.
5. ^ "B.C. NDP, Liberals in dead heat poll shows". The Gazette. May 16, 1996. p. A9.
6. McInnes, Craig (May 13, 1996). "NDP pads lead in B.C. campaign poll: Liberal Leader still slips as voters' pick for premier despite publicity efforts last week B.C. Poll". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
7. Haysom, Ian (May 6, 1996). "No one is ready to dismiss third-place Reform party". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A6.
8. McInnes, Craig (May 3, 1996). "NDP climbs into lead in B.C. poll Support for opposition drops as new Premier pulls party past early-favourite Liberals". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.
9. Hauka, Don (April 18, 1996). "Poll surge heartens NDP: Premier urged to drop writ as voters sour on Liberals". The Province. p. A5.
10. Rowlands, Bob (May 16, 1996). "NDP, Grits in dead heat". The Times Colonist. p. 1.
11. ^ McInnes, Craig (May 3, 1996). "NDP climbs into lead in B.C. poll: Support for opposition drops as new Premier pulls party past early-favourite Liberals". The Globe and Mail. p. A8.
12. "Poll shows NDP stalled". The Vancouver Sun. March 2, 1996. p. A18.
13. ^ "New poll shows NDP closing gap on Grits". The Times Colonist. January 24, 1996. p. A4, 1.
14. Fong, Petti (December 18, 1995). "New Democrats surge ahead in latest B.C. poll". The Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
15. Schreiner, John; Damsell, Keith (November 16, 1995). "B.C. premier quits after poll results". Financial Post. p. 5.
16. "Grits likely next B.C. government". Times Colonist. November 12, 1995. p. 1.
17. "Poll rains on hopes of NDP in B.C. Liberals get twice the backing no matter who takes over". The Globe and Mail. November 21, 1995. p. N4.
18. Leyne, Les (January 15, 1995). "Weisberger elected leader on first ballot". Times Colonist. p. 1.
19. Hunter, Justine (December 15, 1994). "Voters say they still prefer Liberals". The Vancouver Sun. p. B8.
20. McLintock, Barbara (December 14, 1996). "NDP on rise, says survey". The Province. p. A12.
21. Baldrey, Keith (November 25, 1994). "NDP's own poll puts Liberals in lead". The Vancouver Sun. p. B4.
22. Kieran, Brian (January 15, 1995). "NDP facing an uphill election battle". The Province. p. A6.
23. Austin, Ian; Hauka, Don (June 10, 1994). "Support grows for B.C. Reform: Gain from Grits: Poll". The Province. p. A12.
24. ^ "Two polls put B.C. Liberals on top". Times Colonist. June 4, 1994. p. 1.
25. Smyth, Michael (March 19, 1994). "Poll: Grits leave NDP in distance". Times Colonist. p. 1.
26. Hunter, Justine (March 19, 1994). "Harcourt's popularity on rise, poll says: Liberals still first with voters, Reform party shows gains". The Vancouver Sun. p. A3.
27. Cernetig, Miro (March 10, 1994). "Socreds' collapse creates a political vacuum". The Globe and Mail. p. A4.
28. Leyne, Les (January 6, 1994). "B.C. Liberals keep big lead in Reid poll". Times Colonist. p. 1.
29. ^ McLintock, Barbara; Colebourn, John (December 15, 1993). "Campbell's Grits No. 1: NDP, Socreds eat Liberals' dust". The Province. p. A6.
30. ^ Hunter, Justine (October 30, 1993). "Socred support plummets to only 14%, Reid poll shows". The Vancouver Sun. p. A6.
31. McLintock, Barbara (September 10, 1993). "We like Gordon Campbell best, for now: Poll". The Province. p. A5.
32. ^ Baldrey, Keith (March 18, 1993). "B.C. Liberals dive in poll: Leader thought taking party down with him". The Vancouver Sun. p. A1.
33. ^ O'Neil, Peter (September 4, 1992). "Honeymoon over - or blip in poll". The Vancouver Sun. p. A4.
34. Elections BC 2002, p. 21.
35. Elections BC 2002, pp. 21–34.
36. ^ Summarized from "1996 Voting Results by Voting Area". Elections BC. Retrieved March 13, 2024.

Further reading

• Electoral History of British Columbia: Supplement, 1987–2001 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7726-4789-5.
• Mutimer, David, ed. (2002). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1996. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9781442672093.

External links

• Elections BC 1996 Election
• Losing the vote, winning the election, CBC video

• Elections in British Columbia
• 1996 elections in Canada
• 1996 in British Columbia
• May 1996 events in Canada