1912 British Columbia general election

The 1912 British Columbia general election was the thirteenth general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on February 27, 1912, and held on March 28, 1912. The new legislature met for the first time on January 16, 1913.

The governing Conservative Party increased its share of the popular vote to almost 60%, and swept all but 3 of the 42 seats in the legislature. Of the remaining three, one (Harold Ernest Forster in Columbia) was formally listed as an Independent but was a Conservative who had missed the filing date. He campaigned and sat in full support of the McBride government.

The Liberal Party's share of the vote fell from one-third to one-quarter, and it lost both of its seats in the legislature.

The remaining two seats were won by the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party in the coal-mining ridings of Nanaimo City and Newcastle.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes ! Candidates !1909 !1912 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;"|Richard McBride
 * 42 || 38 || 39 || 1 || 50,423 || 2,651 || 59.65% || 7.32


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 17 || 2 || 1 || 1 || 9,366 || 2,299 || 11.08% || 0.42


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 7 || – || 1 || 1 || 1,163 || 1,009 || 1.37% || 1.22


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 1 || – || 1 || 1 || 621 || 621 || 0.74% ||New


 * style="text-align:left;"|Harlan Carey Brewster
 * 19 || 2 || – || 2 || 21,433 || 12,242 || 25.37% || 7.84

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! " colspan="2"|42 ! " colspan="2"|84,529 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00%
 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 2 || – || – || – || 1,513 || 1,112 || 1.79% || 0.80
 * 88||42
 * }

Results by riding
The following MLAs were elected:

{{legend|#294296|Alberni: John George Corry Wood}} {{legend|#294296|Atlin: Henry Esson Young}} {{legend|#294296|Cariboo: Michael Callanan}} {{legend|#294296|Cariboo: John Anderson Fraser}} {{legend|#294296|Chilliwhack: Samuel Arthur Cawley}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Columbia: Harold Ernest Forster (I-Con)}} {{legend|#294296|Comox: Michael Manson}} {{legend|#294296|Cowichan: William Henry Hayward}} {{legend|#294296|Cranbrook: Thomas Donald Caven}} {{legend|#294296|Delta: Francis James Anderson MacKenzie}} {{legend|#294296|Dewdney: William J. Manson}} {{legend|#294296|Esquimalt: Robert Henry Pooley}} {{legend|#294296|Fernie: William Roderick Ross}} {{legend|#294296|Grand Forks: Ernest Miller}}

{{legend|#294296|Greenwood: John Robert Jackson}} {{legend|#294296|The Islands: Albert Edward McPhillips}} {{legend|#294296|Kamloops: James Pearson Shaw}} {{legend|#294296|Kaslo: Neil Franklin MacKay}} {{legend|#294296|Lillooet: Archibald McDonald}} {{legend|#DA7C7C|Nanaimo City: John Thomas Wilmot Place}} {{legend|#294296|Nelson City: William Ross MacLean}} {{legend|#FFD700|Newcastle: Parker Williams}} {{legend|#294296|New Westminster City: Thomas Gifford}} {{legend|#294296|Okanagan: Price Ellison}} {{legend|#294296|Revelstoke: Thomas Taylor}} {{legend|#294296|Richmond: Francis Lovett Carter-Cotton}} {{legend|#294296|Rossland City: Lorne Argyle Campbell}} {{legend|#294296|Saanich: David McEwen Eberts}}

{{legend|#294296|Similkameen: Lytton Wilmot Shatford}} {{legend|#294296|Skeena: William Manson}} {{legend|#294296|Slocan: William Hunter}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver City: Charles William John Bowser}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver City: Alexander Henry Boswell MacGowan}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver City: George Albert McGuire}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver City: Charles Edward Tisdall}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver City: Henry Holgate Watson}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Henry Frederick William Behnsen}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Frederick Davey}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Richard McBride}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Henry Broughton Thomson}} {{legend|#294296|Yale: Alexander Lucas}} {{legend|#294296|Ymir: James Hargrave Schofield}}

Synopsis of results

 * = open seat
 * = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
 * = incumbent had switched allegiance
 * = previously incumbent in another riding
 * = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
 * = incumbency arose from byelection gain
 * = other incumbents renominated
 * = multiple candidates

Further reading & references

 * 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.