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.

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.

1966 redistribution of ridings
An Act was passed in 1966 providing for an increase of seats from 52 to 55, upon the next election. The following changes were made:

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes ! Candidates !1963 !1966 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;" |W.A.C. Bennett
 * 55 || 33  || 33  ||   || 342,751  || 52,328 || 45.59  || 4.76


 * style="text-align:left;" |Bob Strachan
 * 55 || 14  || 16  || 2  || 252,753  || 16,251 || 33.62  || 5.82


 * style="text-align:left;" |Ray Perrault
 * 53 || 5  || 6  || 1  || 152,155  || 41,208 || 20.24  || 0.26


 * style="text-align:left;" |
 * 3 || – || – || – || 1,409  || 107,681 || 0.18  || 11.09


 * || 6 || – || – || – || 1,097  || 248  || 0.14  || 0.05

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! colspan="2"| 55 ! colspan="2"|751,876 ! colspan="2"| 100.00%
 * || 6 || – || – || – || 1,711  || 1,421  || 0.23  || 0.20
 * 178
 * 52
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Rejected ballots
 * 7,056 ||924
 * colspan="2"|
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Actual voters who voted
 * 596,716 ||11,956
 * 68.28% || 1.43
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered voters
 * 873,927 ||787
 * colspan="2"|
 * }
 * 873,927 ||787
 * colspan="2"|
 * }

MLAs elected
{{legend|#ADD8E6|Alberni: Howard McDiarmid}} {{legend|#F4A460|Atlin: Frank Calder}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Boundary-Similkameen: Frank Richter, Jr.}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Edmonds: Gordon Dowding}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby North: Eileen Dailly}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Willingdon: Fred Vulliamy}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Cariboo: William C. Speare}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Chilliwack: William Kenneth Kiernan}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Columbia River: James Roland Chabot}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Comox: Daniel Campbell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Coquitlam: Dave Barrett}} {{legend|#F4A460|Cowichan-Malahat: Robert Strachan}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Delta: Robert Wenman}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Dewdney: George Mussallem}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Esquimalt: Herbert Joseph Bruch}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Fort George: Ray Williston}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Kamloops: Phil Gaglardi}} {{legend|#F4A460|Kootenay: Leo Nimsick}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Langley: Hunter Vogel}}
 * Single-member districts

{{legend|#ADD8E6|Mackenzie: Isabel Dawson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Nanaimo: David Stupich}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Nelson-Creston: Wesley Drewett Black}} {{legend|#F4A460|New Westminster: Rae Eddie}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|North Okanagan: Patricia Jordan}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|North Peace River: Dean Smith}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Capilano: Ray Perrault}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Seymour: Barrie Clark}} {{legend|#A51B12|Oak Bay: Alan MacFarlane}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Omineca: Cyril Morley Shelford}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Prince Rupert: William Harvey Murray}} {{legend|#F4A460|Revelstoke-Slocan: Randolph Harding}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Richmond: Ernest A. LeCours}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Rossland-Trail: Donald Leslie Brothers}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Saanich and the Islands: John Douglas Tisdalle}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Shuswap: Willis Franklin Jefcoat}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Skeena: Dudley George Little}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|South Okanagan: W. A. C. Bennett}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|South Peace River: Donald M. Phillips}}

{{legend|#F4A460|Surrey: Ernest Hall}} {{legend|#A51B12|West Vancouver-Howe Sound: Allan Williams}} {{legend|#F4A460|Yale-Lillooet: Bill Hartley}}

{{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Burrard: Thomas Berger}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Burrard: Raymond Parkinson}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver Centre: Herb Capozzi}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver Centre: Evan Maurice Wolfe}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver East: Alexander Macdonald}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver East: Arthur James Turner}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver-Little Mountain: Grace McCarthy}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver-Little Mountain: Leslie Peterson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Point Grey: Garde Gardom}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Point Grey: Pat McGeer}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver South: Thomas Audley Bate}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Vancouver South: Ralph Raymond Loffmark}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Victoria City: William Chant}} {{legend|#ADD8E6|Victoria City: Waldo McTavish Skillings}}
 * Multi-member districts

Synopsis of results

 * = open seat
 * = turnout is above provincial average
 * = 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


 * = winning candidate