1979 British Columbia general election

Canadian provincial election September 2023 July 2021 1979 British Columbia general election British Columbia parliamentary no no no 1975 British Columbia general election 1975 1983 British Columbia general election 1983 31st Parliament of British Columbia 32nd Parliament of British Columbia 57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 29 seats were needed for a majority May 10, 1979 x160px BC Social Credit nohash Bill Bennett 1973 BC Social Credit name Okanagan South 35 seats, 49.25% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 31 4 677,607 48.23% 1.02 x160px BC NDP nohash Dave Barrett 1969 BC NDP name Vancouver East 18 seats, 39.16% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 26 8 646,188 45.99% 6.83 PC BC PC nohash Victor Stephens 1977 BC PC name Oak Bay-Gordon Head (lost re-election) 1 seat, 3.86% Share of the total popular vote in the previous election 0 1 71,078 5.06% 1.20 Premier Bill Bennett BC Social Credit name Premier after election Bill Bennett BC Social Credit name The 1979 British Columbia general election was the 32nd 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 April 3, 1979. The election was held on May 10, 1979, and the new legislature met for the first time on June 6, 1979. The governing Social Credit Party of British Columbia of Bill Bennett was re-elected with a majority government, and won almost half of the popular vote. The electorate was polarized between the Socreds and the social democratic New Democratic Party of former premier Dave Barrett, which won just under 46% of the popular vote and all of the remaining seats in the legislature. The NDP made up much of the ground it had lost in its severe defeat of four years earlier. However, the Socreds dominated the Fraser Valley and the Interior, allowing Bennett to cling to government by three seats. Of the other parties, only the Progressive Conservatives won over 1% of the popular vote, but their 5% of the vote did not enable them to hold on to their single seat in the legislature. The Conservatives would not return to the legislature until 2024. The party leader, Victor Stephens, complained during the campaign that the Federal PC Party was providing no assistance to the provincial party and favoured Social Credit instead. That caused embarrassment for the federal party leader, Joe Clark, who was leading his own election campaign for the May 22, 1979 federal election. The Liberals were shut out of the legislature, garnered only 0.5% of the vote, and did not return until 1991. Results PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1975Elected% Change#%% Change BC Social Credit row-nameBill Bennett 573531-11.4%677,607 48.23%-1.02% BC NDP rowNew Democrats Dave Barrett571826 44.4%646,188 45.99% +6.83% BC PC rowProgressive ConservativeVictor Stephens371- -100%71,078 5.06% +1.20% BC Liberal row-nameJev Tothill 51- -100%6,662 0.47% -6.77% BC Communist row-name 7-- - 1,159 0.08% -0.03% BC Independent rowIndependent5-- - 1,098 0.08% -0.28% BC Independent rowWestern Independence 2 * - * 555 0.04% * BC North American Labour row-name 4 - - - 297 0.02% +0.01% BC Marxist-Leninist row-name 2 * - * 235 0.02% * BC Independent rowGay Alliance Toward Equality 1 * - *1260.01% * BC Independent rowIndependent New Hope 1 * - * 72 0.01% * Total1785557+3.6% 1,405,077 100%  Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20041221100014/http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/electoral_history/32ge1979-1.html http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/electoral_history/32ge1979-1.html 2004-12-21 Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986 Part One 32nd General Election 1979 elections.bc.ca dead Note: * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Social Credit BC Social Credit 48.23 NDP BC NDP 45.99 PC BC Conservative 5.06 Others BC Independent 0.72Seats summary #ddd 600px 410px Social Credit BC Social Credit 54.39 NDP BC NDP 45.61 See also List of British Columbia political parties References Further reading Byers R.B. Canadian annual review of politics and public affairs. 1979 1981 University of Toronto Press Toronto 978-1-4426-7193-5 https://archive.org/details/canadianannualre0000unse_w1r4 registration Category: elections in Canada General election Category:May 1979 in Canada