1966 British Columbia general election

The 1966 British Columbia general election was the 28th 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 August 5, 1966 and held on September 12, 1966. The new legislature met for the first time on January 24, 1967.

1966 British Columbia general election

September 12, 1966
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   NDP BCLP Leader W. A. C. Bennett Robert Strachan Ray Perrault Party Social Credit New Democratic Liberal Leader since 1952 1956 1959 Leader's seat South Okanagan Cowichan-Malahat North Vancouver-Capilano Last election 33 seats, 40.83% 14 seats, 27.80% 5 seats, 19.98% Seats won 33 16 6 Seat change 0 2 1 Popular vote 342,751 252,753 152,155 Percentage 45.59% 33.62% 20.24% Swing 4.76pp 5.82pp 0.26pp
Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier after election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit

The conservative Social Credit Party was re-elected with a majority in the legislature to a sixth term in government. It increased its share of the popular vote by close to five percentage points to over 45%, and winning the same number of seats (33) as in the previous election.

The opposition New Democratic Party also increased its share of the popular vote by over five percentage points, but won only two additional seats.

The Liberal Party won about 20% of the popular vote, and one additional seat, for a total of six.

The Progressive Conservative Party was virtually wiped out: it nominated only three candidates (down from 44 in the previous election), and its share of the popular vote fell from over 11% to a negligible amount.