1960 British Columbia general election

The 1960 British Columbia general election was the 26th 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 August 3, 1960, and held on September 12, 1960. The new legislature met for the first time on January 26, 1961.

1960 British Columbia general election

← 1956 September 12, 1960 1963 →
← outgoing members elected members →
52 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader W. A. C. Bennett Robert Strachan Party Social Credit Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since 1952 1956 Leader's seat South Okanagan Cowichan-Newcastle Last election 39 seats, 45.84% 10 seats, 28.32% Seats won 32 16 Seat change 7 6 Popular vote 386,886 326,094 Percentage 38.83% 32.73% Swing 7.01pp 4.41pp   Third party Fourth party   BCLP PC Leader Ray Perrault Deane Finlayson Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1959 1952 Leader's seat North Vancouver Ran in North Vancouver (lost) Last election 2 seats, 21.77% 0 seats, 3.11% Seats won 4 0 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 208,249 66,943 Percentage 20.90% 6.72% Swing 0.87pp 3.61pp
Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier after election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit

The conservative Social Credit of Premier W.A.C. Bennett was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a fourth term in government despite losing seven percentage points of the popular vote and seven of its seats in the legislature.

The opposition Co-operative Commonwealth Federation increased both its share of the popular vote and its number of seats.

The British Columbia Liberal Party lost a small part of its popular vote, but managed to double its caucus from two to four members.

The Progressive Conservative Party doubled its share of the popular vote to almost 7%, but won no seats in the legislature.

Results

Elections to the 26th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1960)^[1]

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1956	1960	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Social Credit	W.A.C. Bennett	52	39	32	7	386,886	12,175	38.83	7.01
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Bob Strachan	52	10	16	6	326,094	94,583	32.73	4.41
	Liberal	Ray Perrault	50	2	4	2	208,249	30,327	20.90	0.87
	Progressive Conservative	Deane Finlayson	52	–	–	–	66,943	41,570	6.72	3.61
	Labour	Tom Uphill	–	1	–	1	Retired
	Communist[a 1]		19	–	–	–	5,675	2,294	0.57	0.16
	Independent		5	–	–	–	2,557	621	0.25	0.14
Total			230	52	52		996,404		100.00%
Rejected ballots[2]							9,862	3,220
Actual voters who voted[2]							628,031	118,622	71.84%	6.41
Registered voters[2]							874,267	95,680

1. Previously known as Labor-Progressive

Seats and popular vote by party^[1]

Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█ Social Credit	32 / 52	38.83%	-7.01
█ Co-operative Commonwealth	16 / 52	32.73%	4.41
█ Liberal	4 / 52	20.90%	-0.87
█ Progressive Conservative	0 / 52	6.72%	3.61
█ Other	0 / 52	0.82%	-0.14

MLAs elected

Single-member districts   Alberni: Stanley John Squire   Atlin: Frank Calder   Cariboo: William C. Speare   Chilliwack: William Kenneth Kiernan   Columbia: Richard Orr Newton   Comox: Daniel Campbell   Cowichan-Newcastle: Robert Strachan   Cranbrook: Leo Nimsick   Dewdney: Dave Barrett   Esquimalt: Herbert Joseph Bruch   Fernie: Harry McKay   Fort George: Ray Williston   Grand Forks-Greenwood: Lois Haggen   Kamloops: Phil Gaglardi   Kaslo-Slocan: Randolph Harding   Lillooet: Don Robinson

Mackenzie: Anthony Gargrave   Nanaimo and the Islands: Earle Cathers Westwood   Nelson-Creston: Wesley Drewett Black   New Westminster: Rae Eddie   North Okanagan: Lorne Shantz   North Peace River: Jacob Francis Huhn   Oak Bay: Alan MacFarlane   Omineca: Cyril Morley Shelford   Prince Rupert: William Harvey Murray   Revelstoke: George Hobbs   Rossland-Trail: Donald Leslie Brothers   Saanich: John Douglas Tisdalle   Salmon Arm: Willis Franklin Jefcoat   Similkameen: Frank Richter, Jr.   Skeena: Dudley George Little   South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett   South Peace River: Stanley Carnell   Yale: Irvine Finlay Corbett

Multi-member districts   Burnaby: Cedric Cox   Burnaby: Gordon Dowding   Delta: Camille Mather   Delta: James Rhodes   North Vancouver: Gordon Gibson, Sr.   North Vancouver: Ray Perrault   Vancouver-Burrard: Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin   Vancouver-Burrard: Bert Price   Vancouver Centre: Alexander Small Matthew   Vancouver Centre: Leslie Peterson   Vancouver East: Alexander Macdonald   Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner   Vancouver-Point Grey: Thomas Audley Bate   Vancouver-Point Grey: Robert Bonner   Vancouver-Point Grey: Buda Brown   Victoria City: William Chant   Victoria City: Waldo McTavish Skillings   Victoria City: John Donald Smith

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1960 British Columbia general election (single-member districts)^[3]

Riding	Winning party								Votes
Name	1956		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %	SC	CCF	Lib	PC	Comm	Ind	Total
Alberni		CCF		CCF	4,093	45.05%	1,127	12.40%	2,966	4,093	1,305	514	207	–	9,085
Atlin		SC		CCF	444	53.30%	177	21.25%	267	444	–	122	–	–	833
Cariboo		SC		SC	3,091	40.90%	1,018	13.47%	3,091	1,842	2,073	552	–	–	7,558
Chilliwack		SC		SC	10,051	54.30%	5,928	32.03%	10,051	4,123	3,163	1,173	–	–	18,510
Columbia		SC		SC	1,115	42.35%	340	12.92%	1,115	775	593	150	–	–	2,633
Comox		SC		SC	6,100	38.63%	28	0.18%	6,100	6,072	2,759	653	207	–	15,791
Cowichan-Newcastle		CCF		CCF	6,261	58.68%	3,228	30.25%	3,033	6,261	–	1,206	170	–	10,670
Cranbrook		CCF		CCF	2,786	44.18%	1,086	17.22%	1,700	2,786	1,475	345	–	–	6,306
Dewdney		SC		CCF	12,637	43.73%	1,924	6.66%	10,713	12,637	4,512	803	233	–	28,898
Esquimalt		SC		SC	4,429	40.38%	1,046	9.54%	4,429	3,383	2,165	991	–	–	10,968
Fernie		Lab		Lib	1,126	36.23%	199	6.40%	927	864	1,126	191	–	–	3,108
Fort George		SC		SC	5,066	55.28%	2,730	29.79%	5,066	2,336	1,416	346	–	–	9,164
Grand Forks-Greenwood		CCF		CCF	1,115	42.35%	363	13.79%	752	1,115	564	202	–	–	2,633
Kamloops		SC		SC	4,777	45.86%	1,949	18.71%	4,777	2,828	1,437	1,374	–	–	10,416
Kaslo-Slocan		CCF		CCF	1,298	50.35%	565	21.92%	733	1,298	303	244	–	–	2,578
Lillooet		SC		SC	1,695	39.56%	364	8.50%	1,695	1,331	923	336	–	–	4,285
Mackenzie		CCF		CCF	4,952	46.44%	1,785	16.74%	3,167	4,952	2,058	487	–	–	10,664
Nanaimo and the Islands		SC		SC	4,599	42.34%	51	0.47%	4,599	4,548	1,036	607	72	–	10,862
Nelson-Creston		SC		SC	4,501	49.37%	1,837	20.15%	4,501	2,664	1,222	730	–	–	9,117
New Westminster		CCF		CCF	6,496	41.25%	1,455	9.24%	5,041	6,496	2,519	1,691	–	–	15,747
North Okanagan		SC		SC	4,553	43.01%	1,525	14.41%	4,553	3,028	1,817	1,098	91	–	10,587
North Peace River		SC		SC	1,651	46.21%	693	19.40%	1,651	769	958	114	–	81	3,573
Oak Bay		Lib		Lib	4,558	44.46%	778	7.59%	3,780	701	4,558	1,212	–	–	10,251
Omineca		SC		SC	1,633	45.88%	514	14.44%	1,633	1,119	529	278	–	–	3,559
Prince Rupert		SC		SC	2,367	40.87%	228	3.94%	2,367	2,139	1,087	199	–	–	5,792
Revelstoke		SC		CCF	1,417	44.12%	472	14.70%	945	1,417	585	265	–	–	3,212
Rossland-Trail		SC		SC	5,562	51.12%	3,026	27.81%	5,562	2,536	2,034	608	141	–	10,881
Saanich		SC		SC	10,165	44.23%	3,653	15.90%	10,165	6,512	4,451	1,782	73	–	22,983
Salmon Arm		SC		SC	1,979	41.75%	312	6.58%	1,979	1,667	481	613	–	–	4,740
Similkameen		SC		SC	4,797	46.84%	1,646	16.07%	4,797	3,151	1,454	840	–	–	10,242
Skeena		SC		SC	2,379	41.19%	242	4.19%	2,379	2,137	848	411	–	–	5,775
South Okanagan		SC		SC	8,058	59.89%	5,156	38.32%	8,058	2,902	1,238	1,256	–	–	13,454
South Peace River		SC		SC	3,133	59.39%	1,794	34.01%	3,133	1,339	303	500	–	–	5,275
Yale		SC		SC	1,103	31.24%	29	1.82%	1,103	1,074	964	390	–	–	3,531

  = 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 - 1956 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts)^[3]

Riding		Winning party		Votes							Voters who voted[4]
Name	MLAs	1956	1960	SC	CCF	Lib	PC	Comm	Ind	Total
Burnaby	2	2	2	13,469	17,659	7,601	1,075	409	–	79,309	41,669
				13,394	17,522	7,111	1,069	–	–
Delta	2	2	2	21,011	21,839	8,529	2,280	505	2,010[a 1]	106,328	55,073
				17,291	21,559	8,517	2,159	408	220
North Vancouver	2	2	2	12,804	6,746	14,408	3,260[a 2]	242	–	72,331	37,901
				12,276	6,720	13,287[a 3]	2,397	191	–
Vancouver-Burrard	2	2	2	10,642	9,505	5,744	2,611	339	87	56,382	29,534
				10,231	9,333	5,715	1,904	271	–
Vancouver Centre	2	2	2	8,516	6,530	3,726	1,421	420	–	40,733	21,312
				8,227	6,378	3,724	1,411	380	–
Vancouver East	2	1   1	2	16,622	25,610	5,906	1,080	718	159	99,479	51,781
				16,379	25,580	5,828	999	598	–
Vancouver-Point Grey	3	3	3	24,273[a 4]	12,702	17,438	6,774	–	–	172,832	59,871
				23,950	12,158	15,107	6,453	–	–
				23,583	11,538	14,827	4,029	–	–
Victoria City	3	2   1	3	9,864	4,598	7,278	2,236	–	–	65,329	22,387
				8,855	4,516	6,083	1,959	–	–
				8,671	4,262	5,464	1,543	–	–

1. Gordon Lionel Gibson was elected as a Socred MLA in a 1957 byelection.
2. Deane Finlayson, PC party leader
3. Gordon Gibson, Sr. had previously been MLA for Lillooet from 1953 to 1955.
4. Robert Bonner was previously an MLA for the district.

  = winning candidate

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

Further reading

• Electoral History of British Columbia, 1871–1986 (PDF). Elections BC. 1988. ISBN 0-7718-8677-2.
• Saywell, John T., ed. (1961). Canadian Annual Review for 1960. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.