The 1903 British Columbia general election was the tenth general election for the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. It was held to elect members of the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

(MLAs). The election was called on September 5, 1903, and held on October 3, 1903. The new legislature met for the first time on November 26, 1903. This was the first election in British Columbia that was fought by

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

. Prior to this election, British Columbia politics were non-partisan. The first election was dominated by the BC

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and Liberal parties, which were affiliated with existing parties at the federal level. The Conservative Party won over 46% of the popular vote and a slim majority of the seats in the legislature. An act was passed in 1902 to provide for an Assembly of 42 members, of which 31 were elected in single-member districts. Of the multi-member districts,

Cariboo The Cariboo is an intermontane region of British Columbia, Canada, centered on a plateau stretching from Fraser Canyon to the Cariboo Mountains. The name is a reference to the Caribou (North America), caribou that were once abundant in the reg ...

returned two MLAs, Victoria City four, and Vancouver City five. Each voter could cast as many votes as there were seats to fill in the multi-member districts.

Results

, - ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" , Political party ! rowspan="2" , Party leader ! colspan="2" , MLAs ! colspan="2" , Votes , - ! Candidates !1903 !# !% , style="text-align:left;", Richard McBride , 41 , , 22 , , 27,913 , , 46.43% , style="text-align:left;", Joseph Martin , 39 , , 17 , , 22,715 , , 37.78% , style="text-align:left;", , 10 , , 2 , , 4,787 , , 7.96% , style="text-align:left;", , 5 , , 1 , , 4,421 , , 7.36% , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , , – , , 284 , , 0.47% , - ! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 95 , 42 ! 60,120 ! 100.00% , - , style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" colspan="3" , Acclamations , style="text-align:left;" , , , 1 , - , style="text-align:left;" , , , 1

Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected:

Results

Results by riding

See also

Notes

References

Further reading