1937 British Columbia general election

The 1937 British Columbia general election was the nineteenth 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 14, 1937, and held on June 1, 1937. The new legislature met for the first time on October 26, 1937.

The governing Liberal Party, despite winning only 37% of the popular vote, benefited from the split in the vote between the Conservative Party and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and won a solid majority of the seats in the legislature.

The rift in the Conservative Party that led to its decision not to nominate candidates in the 1933 election had been resolved, and the party was able to form the official opposition.

The Conservatives and CCF each won about 29% of the vote, and only 8 seats and 7 seats, respectively. The remaining two seats were won by Labour and Independent candidates.

Health insurance plebiscite
In 1936, the Legislature passed an Act providing for the creation of a health insurance plan for the Province. This was 26 years ahead of its introduction in Saskatchewan in 1962. The medical profession resisted its implementation to such a degree that a plebiscite was held on the same day as the election.

The question asked was, "Are you in favour of a comprehensive Health Insurance plan progressively applied?" The results were as follows:

Despite the majority in favour, the legislation was never brought into force, but it would not be repealed until 1973. Medicare was finally introduced after the 1967 passage of the Medical Services Act.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes ! Candidates !1933 !1937 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;" |Duff Pattullo
 * 48 || 35  || 31  || 4 || 156,074  || 3,057 || 37.34  || 4.40
 * style="text-align:left;" |Frank Porter Patterson
 * 43 || 4  || 8  || 4  || 119,521  || 54,278  || 28.60  || 11.48
 * rowspan="3" |
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="10"|CCF split
 * style="text-align:left;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" |None
 * 46 || 7  || 7  ||   || 119,400  || 785 || 28.57  || 2.96
 * style="text-align:left;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" |Robert Connell
 * 14 || – || – || – || 8,086  || 8,086  || 1.93  ||New
 * style="text-align:left;" |
 * style="text-align:left;" |Robert Connell
 * 14 || – || – || – || 8,086  || 8,086  || 1.93  ||New

(all factions)
 * || 11 || 1  || 1  ||   || 7,341  || 18,317 || 1.76  || 4.97
 * || 2 || 1  || 1  ||   || 1,787  || 570 || 0.43  || 0.19


 * style="text-align:left;" |Andrew Henry Jukes
 * 18 || – || – || – || 4,812  || 4,812  || 1.15  ||New


 * || 1 || – || – || – || 567  || 567  || 0.14  ||New


 * || 2 || – || – || – || 287  || 287  || 0.07  ||Returned

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! colspan="2"| 48 ! colspan="2"|417,929 ! colspan="2"| 100.00%
 * || 1 || – || – || – || 54 || 54  || 0.01  ||New
 * 186
 * 48
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots
 * 4,143 ||763
 * colspan="2"|
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Actual voters who voted
 * 265,446 ||29,031
 * 71.20% || 1.87
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered voters
 * 372,781 ||49,241
 * colspan="2"|
 * }
 * 372,781 ||49,241
 * colspan="2"|
 * }

MLAs elected
{{legend|#A51B12|Alberni-Nanaimo: George Sharratt Pearson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Atlin: William James Asselstine}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Burnaby: Ernest Winch}} {{legend|#A51B12|Cariboo: Louis LeBourdais}} {{legend|#294296|Chilliwack: Leslie Harvey Eyres}} {{legend|#A51B12|Columbia: Thomas King}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Comox: Colin Cameron}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Cowichan-Newcastle: Samuel Guthrie}} {{legend|#A51B12|Cranbrook: Frank Mitchell MacPherson}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Delta: Leonard Shepherd}} {{legend|#294296|Dewdney: Frank Porter Patterson}} {{legend|#294296|Esquimalt: Elmer Victor Finland}} {{legend|#EEBBBB|Fernie: Thomas Aubert Uphill (ILP)}} {{legend|#A51B12|Fort George: Henry George Thomas Perry}} {{legend|#A51B12|Grand Forks-Greenwood: Ezra Churchill Henniger}} {{legend|#294296|The Islands: MacGregor MacIntosh}}

{{legend|#A51B12|Kamloops: Robert Henry Carson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kaslo-Slocan: Charles Sidney Leary}} {{legend|#A51B12|Lillooet: George Murray}} {{legend|#A51B12|Mackenzie: John Melvin Bryan, Sr.}} {{legend|#A51B12|Nelson-Creston: Frank Putnam}} {{legend|#A51B12|New Westminster: Wells Gray}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Okanagan: Kenneth Cattanach MacDonald}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|North Vancouver: Dorothy Steeves}} {{legend|#A51B12|Omineca: Mark Matthew Connelly}} {{legend|#A51B12|Peace River: Glen Everton Braden}} {{legend|#A51B12|Prince Rupert: Duff Pattullo}} {{legend|#A51B12|Revelstoke: Harry Johnston}} {{legend|#A51B12|Rossland-Trail: Richard Ronald Burns}} {{legend|#A51B12|Saanich: Norman William Whittaker}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Salmon Arm: Rolf Wallgren Bruhn}} {{legend|#A51B12|Similkameen: Charles H. P. Tupper}} {{legend|#A51B12|Skeena: Edward Tourtellotte Kenney}}

{{legend|#A51B12|South Okanagan: Cecil Robert Bull}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Burrard: John Howard Forester}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Burrard: Helen Douglas Smith}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver Centre: Fred Crone}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver Centre: Gordon Sylvester Wismer}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Vancouver East: John Price}} {{legend|#EEDDAA|Vancouver East: Harold Winch}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver-Point Grey: Royal Maitland}} {{legend|#294296|Vancouver-Point Grey: James Alexander Paton}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Point Grey: George Moir Weir}} {{legend|#A51B12|Victoria City: John Hart}} {{legend|#A51B12|Victoria City: William Thomas Straith}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Herbert Anscomb}} {{legend|#294296|Victoria City: Joseph Douglas Hunter}} {{legend|#A51B12|Yale: John Joseph Alban Gillis}}

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