1972 British Columbia general election

Canadian provincial election September 2023 September 2020 1972 British Columbia general election British Columbia parliamentary no no no 1969 British Columbia general election 1969 1975 British Columbia general election 1975 55 seats to the 30th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia28 seats were needed for a majority August 30, 1972 x160px BC NDP nohash Dave Barrett 1969 BC NDP name Coquitlam 12 seats, 33.92% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 38 26 448,260 39.59% 5.67pp Percentage points WAC Bennett - 1942.jpg BC Social Credit nohash W. A. C. Bennett 1952 BC Social Credit name South Okanagan 38 seats, 46.79% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 10 28 352,776 31.16% 15.63pp Percentage points x160px BC Liberal nohash David Anderson 1972 BC Liberal name VictoriaNot the incumbent, but stood in this seat and won 5 seats, 19.03% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 5 0 185,640 16.40% 2.63pp Percentage points PC BC Conservative nohash Derril Thomas Warren 1971 BC Progressive Conservative name Ran in North Vancouver-Seymour (lost) 0 seats, 0.11% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 2 2 143,450 12.67% 12.56pp Percentage points Premier W. A. C. Bennett BC Social Credit name Premier after election Dave Barrett BC NDP name 30th Parliament of British Columbia#Members of the 30th General Assembly 29th Parliament of British Columbia#Members of the 29th General Assembly The 1972 British Columbia general election for the Canadian province of British Columbia was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. 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 New Democratic Party to victory, winning a majority government. The Social Credit Party, led by Premier W. A. C. Bennett, 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 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 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".Mitchell David J. W.A.C. Bennett and the Rise of British Columbia 1983 0-88894-395-4 414 Douglas & McIntyre registration https://archive.org/details/wacbennettriseof0000mitc/page/414 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.Griffin Norm Rogers Bruce 1972: Dave Barrett elected Premier of B.C. http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/1972-dave-barrett-elected-premier-of-bc CBC Digital Archives Radio program CBC Radio: Sunday Magazine 5 June 2016 3 September 1972 A pre-campaign visit by Bennett and his cabinet to New Westminster 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. 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.Dawes Harvey B.C. Elections: Voters react to NDP victory in B.C. http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/bc-elections-voters-react-to-ndp-victory-in-bc CBC Digital Archives Hourglass News 5 June 2016 Television program 31 August 1972 Historian David J. Mitchell wrote, "The surprise was not just [the Social Credit] defeat, 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, elected into office, and vowed, "I will not let their hopes or aspirations down." Results Summary of the 1972 Legislative Assembly of British Columbia election results |- bgcolor="CCCCCC" !rowspan="2" colspan="2"|Party !rowspan="2"|Party leader !rowspan="2"|# ofcandidates !colspan="3"|Seats !colspan="3"|Popular vote |- bgcolor="CCCCCC" |align="center"|1969 |align="center"|Elected|align="center"|% Change |align="center"|# |align="center"|% |align="center"|% Change BC NDP row-name |align="left"|Dave Barrett |align="right"|55 |align="right"|12 |align="right"|38|align="right"| +217% |align="right"|448,260 |align="right"|39.59% |align="right"| +5.67% BC Social Credit row-name |align="left"|W. A. C. Bennett |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% BC Liberal row-name |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% BC PC row-name |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% BC Independent row | 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% BC Communist row |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:' http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/electoral_history/30ge1972-1.html https://web.archive.org/web/20041221095859/http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/electoral_history/30ge1972-1.html 2004-12-21 elections.bc.ca Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986 Part One 30th General Election 1972 dead |- |} Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px NDP BC NDP 39.59 Social Credit BC Social Credit 31.16 Liberal BC Liberal 16.40 PC BC Conservative 12.67 Others BC Independent 0.18Seats summary #ddd 600px 410px NDP BC NDP 69.09 Social Credit BC Social Credit 18.18 Liberal BC Liberal 9.09 PC BC Conservative 3.64 See also List of British Columbia political parties Notes References Category: elections in Canada General election Category:August 1972 in Canada