British Columbia general election, 1924

The British Columbia general election of 1924 was the sixteenth 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 May 10, 1924, and held on June 20, 1924. The new legislature met for the first time on November 3, 1924.

The Liberal Party was re-elected to its third term in government, falling just short of a majority in the legislature even though it won less than a third of the popular vote. Two Independent Liberals were also elected. Premier John Oliver lost his own seat in Victoria City, but remained Premier until 1927.

The Conservative Party formed the official opposition, while two new parties, the Provincial Party and the Canadian Labour Party won three seats each, and a total of 35% of the vote.

Campaign

The Provincial Party, which nominated candidates only in 1924, was formed by a group of British Columbia Conservative Party dissidents known as the "Committee of 100", led and funded by the wealthy General Alexander McRae and political elements from the United Farmers of British Columbia. McRae claimed that the Liberal government of John Oliver and the previous administrations of Conservative Premier William John Bowser, then the opposition leader, were corrupt. Many of his allegations were related to the funding of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway plan to reach Prince George in the Northern interior of the province, which was not achieved until many years later. He claimed that there were kickbacks, patronage and various wrongdoings. His allegations were never proven. The election was bitterly fought with sensational allegations against all three leaders. McRae was not elected. Both Bowser and Oliver lost their seats but Oliver continued to lead his Liberal Party as Premier of a minority government after the election.^[1]

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1920	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal	John Oliver	46	25	23	-8.0%	108,323	31.34%	-6.55%
	Conservative	William John Bowser	47	15	17	+13.3%	101,765	29.45%	-1.75%
	Provincial	Alexander Duncan McRae	45	*	3	*	83,517	24.16%	*
	Canadian Labour^1		15	*	3	*	39,044	11.30%	*
	Independent Liberal		5	-	2	-	3,549	1.03%	+0.06%
	Socialist^2		2	-	-	-	4,364	1.26%	-2.24%
	Independent		3	3	-	-100.0%	2,520	0.73%	-9.64%
	Independent Conservative		?	-	-	-	2,046	0.59%	+0.14%
	Farmer–Labour		1	*	-	*	478	0.14%	*
Total			168	47	48	+2.1%	345,608	100%
Source: Elections BC

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ Not the same as the Canadian Labour Party of B.C. which contested the 1906 and 1909 general elections. Organized in British Columbia in 1924.

² Includes joint Socialist Party of Canada - Workers' Party of Canada candidate.

Results by riding

Results of British Columbia general election, 1924
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
	Herbert Frederick Kergin	Atlin Liberal			Cowichan-Newcastle Conservative	Cyril Francis Davie
	Edward Dodsley Barrow	Chilliwack Liberal			Cranbrook Conservative	Noel Stirling Austin Arnold Wallinger
	John Andrew Buckham	Columbia Liberal			Creston Conservative	Fred W. Lister
	Alexander McDonald Paterson	Delta Liberal			Dewdney Conservative	John Alexander Catherwood
	James Reginald Colley	Kamloops Liberal			Esquimalt Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley
	Henry George Thomas Perry	Fort George Liberal			Grand Forks-Greenwood Conservative	John McKie
	Charles Sidney Leary	Kaslo-Slocan Liberal			The Islands Conservative	Cyrus Wesley Peck
	Albert Edward Munn	Lillooet Liberal			Mackenzie Conservative	Michael Manson
	William Sloan	Nanaimo			Rossland-Trail Conservative	James Hargrave Schofield
	Kenneth Campbell	Nelson			Saanich Conservative	Thomas George Coventry
	Edwin James Rothwell	New Westminster			Salmon Arm Conservative	Rolf Wallgren Bruhn
	John Melvin Bryan, Sr.	North Vancouver Liberal			Similkameen Conservative	William Alexander McKenzie
	Alexander Malcolm Manson	Omineca Liberal			South Okanagan Conservative	James William Jones
	Thomas Dufferin Pattullo	Prince Rupert Liberal			Victoria City Conservative	Reginald Hayward
	William Henry Sutherland	Revelstoke Liberal				Joshua Hinchcliffe
	Horace Cooper Wrinch	Skeena Liberal				Robert Allan Gus Lyons
	Ian Alistair MacKenzie	Vancouver City Liberal				Harold Despard Twigg
	Christopher McRae				Cariboo Provincial	David Alexander Stoddart
	Victor Wentworth Odlum				Richmond-Point Grey Provincial	George Alexander Walkem
	Mary Ellen Smith				Vancouver City Provincial	Andrew McCreight Creery
	Charles Woodward				Alberni Independent Liberal	Richard John Burde
	John Duncan MacLean	Yale Liberal			Comox Independent Liberal	Paul Philips Harrison
					Burnaby Canadian Labour Party	Francis Aubrey Browne
					Fernie Canadian Labour Party	Thomas Aubert Uphill
					South Vancouver Canadian Labour Party	Robert Henry Neelands
Source: Elections BC

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

References

1. Margaret A. Ormsby (1958). British Columbia: A History. MacMillan: Vancouver. p. 420.

Further reading

• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.