1972 British Columbia General Election
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The 1972 British Columbia 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 ...
of
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 ...
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 ...
. The election was called on July 24, 1972, and held on August 30, 1972. The new legislature met for the first time on October 17, 1972. David Barrett led the
social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
to victory, winning a
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
. The Social Credit Party, led by Premier
W. A. C. Bennett William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett remains the longest-serving premier ...
, were defeated after governing British Columbia since the 1952 election. Social Credit's share of the popular vote fell by over 15 percentage points, and the party lost 28 of the seats it had won in the previous election. The
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...
held onto its five seats, while the Progressive Conservative Party, under the leadership of Derrill Warren, returned to the legislature for the first time since the 1953 election by winning two seats. In four ridings and part of a fifth, a referendum was held on the question of daylight saving time and which time zone to use concurrently with the election. Social Credit ran a lackluster campaign beset by gaffes. A week before the general election, cabinet minister
Phil Gaglardi Philip Arthur Gaglardi (January 13, 1913 – September 23, 1995), often known as Flying Phil, was a politician in the Canadian province of British Columbia. He served in the provincial Cabinet from 1952 to 1972. Private and family life Gaglardi ...
remarked to a newspaper that Bennett would resign after the election, calling him "an old man who doesn't understand what is happening with the young people of this province". The remark proved damaging, bringing the issue of whether Bennett and his party were worn out after 20 years in office to the forefront of the campaign. A pre-campaign visit by Bennett and his cabinet to
New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...
turned violent after they were confronted by demonstrators, who injured eight ministers, a melee for which Bennett tried to blame Barrett. Shortly after the Social Credit campaign started, Bennett was tricked into shaking hands with current Progressive Conservative leader Derril Warren in front of a photographer from ''
The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...
''. After the photograph, depicting a smiling Warren and scowling Bennett, was published on ''The Provinces front page, Bennett spent the rest of the campaign antagonising the media, refusing to tell reporters where he was appearing. Barrett benefited from his youth, allowing the media to contrast him with the aged Bennett, and ran a campaign focused on "people issues" such as urban transit, public auto insurance, and increased royalties from the province's timber and minerals industries. Late in the campaign, Bennett declared at a Social Credit rally, "The socialist hordes are at the gates of British Columbia!" Although Bennett's campaign had been lacklustre, no commentators anticipated the party's loss. The resulting NDP majority came as a surprise. Historian David J. Mitchell wrote, "The surprise was not just he Social Creditdefeat, but its magnitude." In his victory speech, Barrett told supporters that ten thousand people had worked for 40 years to get the NDP and its predecessor, the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...
, elected into office, and vowed, "I will not let their hopes or aspirations down."


Results

, - bgcolor="CCCCCC" !rowspan="2" colspan="2", Party !rowspan="2", Party leader !rowspan="2", # of
candidates !colspan="3", Seats !colspan="3", Popular vote , - bgcolor="CCCCCC" , align="center",
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, align="center", Elected , align="center", % Change , align="center", # , align="center", % , align="center", % Change , align="left",
Dave Barrett David Barrett (October 2, 1930 – February 2, 2018) was a Canadian politician and social worker in British Columbia. A member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BCNDP), he was the 26th premier of British Columbia from 1972 to 1 ...
, align="right", 55 , align="right", 12 , align="right", 38 , align="right", +217% , align="right", 448,260 , align="right", 39.59% , align="right", +5.67% , align="left",
W. A. C. Bennett William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett remains the longest-serving premier ...
, align="right", 55 , align="right", 38 , align="right", 10 , align="right", -73.7% , align="right", 352,776 , align="right", 31.16% , align="right", -15.63% , align="left", David Anderson , align="right", 53 , align="right", 5 , align="right", 5 , align="right", - , align="right", 185,640 , align="right", 16.40% , align="right", -2.63% , align="left", Derril Thomas Warren , align="right", 49 , align="right", - , align="right", 2 , align="right", - , align="right", 143,450 , align="right", 12.67% , align="right", +12.56% , colspan="2" align="left", Independent , align="right", 9 , align="right", - , align="right", - , align="right", - , align="right", 1,184 , align="right", 0.10% , align="right", +0.02% , colspan="2" align="left", Communist Party , align="right", 15 , align="right", - , align="right", - , align="right", - , align="right", 862 , align="right", 0.08% , align="right", +0.03% , - , colspan="3", Total !align="right", 226 !align="right", 55 !align="right", 55 !align="right", - !align="right", 1,132,172 !align="right", 100% , align="center",   , - , align="center" colspan="10", Source: , -


See also

* List of British Columbia political parties


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:British Columbia general election, 1972
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
1972 elections in Canada
General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
August 1972 in Canada