British Columbia general election, 1986

British Columbia general election, 1986

October 22, 1986

69 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 35 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Bill Vander Zalm Bob Skelly Art Lee Party Social Credit New Democratic Liberal Leader since 1986 1984 1984 Leader's seat Richmond Alberni Ran in Vancouver-Little Mountain (lost) Last election 35 22 0 Seats won 47 22 0 Seat change 12 0 0 Popular vote 954,516 824,544 130,505 Percentage 49.32 42.60 6.74 Swing 0.44 2.34 4.05

Premier before election Bill Vander Zalm Social Credit Premier-designate Bill Vander Zalm Social Credit

The British Columbia general election of 1986 was the 34th 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 September 24, 1986. The election was held on October 22, 1986, and the new legislature met for the first time on March 9, 1987.

The governing British Columbia Social Credit Party had seen a leadership change just months before the election, with Bill Bennett standing down in favour of Bill Vander Zalm. Promising a fresh start after the Bennett years, Vander Zalm led the Socreds to a fourth consecutive majority government, and won almost half of the popular vote. 12 new seats had been created in the legislature for this election. Social Credit coincidentally won 12 additional seats, while the social democratic New Democratic Party, led by Bob Skelly, won the same number it had in the previous election.

No other parties won seats.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1983	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Social Credit	Bill Vander Zalm	69	35	47	+34.3%	954,516	49.32%	-0.44%
	New Democratic	Bob Skelly	69	22	22	-	824,544	42.60%	-2.34%
	Liberal	Art Lee	55	-	-	-	130,505	6.74%	+4.05%
	Progressive Conservative	Vacant[1]	12	-	-	-	14,074	0.73 %	-0.43%
	Green		9	-	-	-	4,660	0.24%	0.05%
	Independent		6	-	-	-	2,470	0.13%	-0.19%
	Libertas		1	*	-	*	1,552	0.08%	*
	People's Front		8	*	-	*	1,502	0.08%	*
	Communist		3	-	-	-	722	0.03%	-0.02%
	Libertarian		3	*	-	*	341	0.02%	*
	Western Canada Concept	Doug Christie	1	-	-	-	322	0.02%	-0.84%
	New Republic		1	*	-	*	245	0.01%	*
Total			237	57	69	+21.1%	1,935,453	100%
Source: Elections BC

Note:

1. Party leader Peter Pollen quit shortly before the election was called

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

External links

• Elections BC 1986 Election