1996 British Columbia general election

The 1996 British Columbia general election was the 36th provincial 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 30, 1996, and held on May 28, 1996. Voter turnout was 59.1 per cent of all eligible voters. The election is notable for producing a "false-winner" outcome, rewarding a party that got second in the popular vote with a majority government.

New Democratic Party leader and provincial premier Mike Harcourt had resigned as the result of a fundraising scandal involving one of the members of his caucus. Glen Clark was chosen by the party to replace Harcourt. Clark led the party to a second majority government, defeating the Liberal Party of Gordon Campbell, who had become leader of the Liberal Party after Gordon Wilson had been forced out of the position because of his relationship with another Liberal member of the legislature, Judi Tyabji.

After Wilson was defeated by Campbell in the convention to choose a new leader, he and Tyabji left the Liberal Party to establish the Progressive Democratic Alliance. Wilson was able to win re-election, but Tyabji was not, who went down to defeat with all of the other candidates fielded by the new party.

The once-dominant Social Credit Party collapsed. It elected Grace McCarthy as its leader in 1993, but she was unable to make a bid to get into the legislature until 1994, when she lost a by-election in the longtime Socred stronghold of Matsqui. Soon afterward, four of its remaining six members defected to Reform BC, leaving Social Credit without official status in the legislature. One more seat was lost in a by-election, reducing the party's representation to one MLA, Cliff Serwa. Serwa retired before the election, however, leaving the party with no incumbents. Party leader Larry Gillanders withdrew from the race while the campaign was in progress, saying that all right-wing parties should unite to topple the ruling NDP. The Socreds won only 0.4% of the vote and were completely shut out of the legislature. While the party still nominally exists, it has never elected another MLA and even lost its registration from 2013 to 2016. Reform BC held on to two of its four seats.

Although the Liberals won the largest share of the popular vote, most of their votes were wasted in the outer regions of the province, and it won only 8 seats in the Vancouver area. That allowed the NDP to win 6 more seats than the opposition Liberals, eking out a majority government. This was the last election to return an NDP majority until 2020, 24 years later.

MLAs elected
{{legend|#A51B12|Abbotsford: John van Dongen}} {{legend|#F4A460|Alberni: Gerard A. Janssen}} {{legend|#F4A460|Bulkley Valley-Stikine: Bill Goodacre}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Edmonds: Fred G. Randall}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby North: Pietro Calendino}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Willingdon: Joan Sawicki}} {{legend|#A51B12|Cariboo North: John Wilson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Cariboo South: David Zirnhelt}} {{legend|#A51B12|Chilliwack: Barry Penner}} {{legend|#F4A460|Columbia River-Revelstoke: Jim Doyle}} {{legend|#F4A460|Comox Valley: Evelyn Gillespie}} {{legend|#F4A460|Coquitlam-Maillardville: John Cashore}} {{legend|#F4A460|Cowichan-Ladysmith: Jan Pullinger}} {{legend|#A51B12|Delta North: Reni Masi}} {{legend|#A51B12|Delta South: Fred Gingell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Esquimalt-Metchosin: Moe Sihota}} {{legend|#A51B12|Fort Langley-Aldergrove: Rich Coleman}} {{legend|#F4A460|Kamloops: Cathy McGregor}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kamloops-North Thompson: Kevin Krueger}} {{legend|#F4A460|Kootenay: Erda Walsh}} {{legend|#A51B12|Langley: Lynn Stephens}} {{legend|#F4A460|Malahat-Juan de Fuca: Rick Kasper}} {{legend|#F4A460|Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows: Bill Hartley}} {{legend|#A51B12|Matsqui: Mike de Jong}} {{legend|#F4A460|Mission-Kent: Dennis Streifel}}

{{legend|#F4A460|Nanaimo: Dale Lovick}} {{legend|#F4A460|Nelson-Creston: Corky Evans}} {{legend|#F4A460|New Westminster: Graeme Bowbrick}} {{legend|#F4A460|North Coast: Dan Miller}} {{legend|#F4A460|North Island: Glenn Robertson}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Lonsdale: Katherine Whittred}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Seymour: Daniel Jarvis}} {{legend|#A51B12|Oak Bay-Gordon Head: Ida Chong}} {{legend|#A51B12|Okanagan-Boundary: Bill Barisoff}} {{legend|#A51B12|Okanagan East: John Weisbeck}} {{legend|#A51B12|Okanagan-Penticton: Rick Thorpe}} {{legend|#A51B12|Okanagan-Vernon: April Sanders}} {{legend|#A51B12|Okanagan West: Sindi Hawkins}} {{legend|#A51B12|Parksville-Qualicum: Paul Reitsma}} {{legend|#00BFFF|Peace River North: Richard Neufeld}} {{legend|#00BFFF|Peace River South: Jack Weisgerber}} {{legend|#F4A460|Port Coquitlam: Mike Farnworth}} {{legend|#A51B12|Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain: Christy Clark}} {{legend|#AA99CC|Powell River-Sunshine Coast: Gordon Wilson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Prince George-Mount Robson: Lois Boone}} {{legend|#F4A460|Prince George North: Paul Ramsey}} {{legend|#A51B12|Prince George-Omineca: Paul Nettleton}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond Centre: Doug Symons}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond East: Linda Reid}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond-Steveston: Geoff Plant}}

{{legend|#F4A460|Rossland-Trail: Ed Conroy}} {{legend|#A51B12|Saanich North and the Islands: Murray Coell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Saanich South: Andrew Petter}} {{legend|#A51B12|Shuswap: George Abbott}} {{legend|#F4A460|Skeena: Helmut Giesbrecht}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-Cloverdale: Bonnie McKinnon}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Green Timbers: Sue Hammell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Newton: Penny Priddy}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Whalley: Joan Smallwood}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-White Rock: Wilf Hurd}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Burrard: Tim Stevenson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Fraserview: Ian Waddell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Hastings: Joy MacPhail}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Kensington: Ujjal Dosanjh}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Kingsway: Glen Clark}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Langara: Val Anderson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Little Mountain: Gary Farrell-Collins}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Mount Pleasant: Jenny Kwan}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Point Grey: Gordon Campbell}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Quilchena: Colin Hansen}} {{legend|#F4A460|Victoria-Beacon Hill: Gretchen Brewin}} {{legend|#F4A460|Victoria-Hillside: Steve Orcherton}} {{legend|#A51B12|West Vancouver-Capilano: Jeremy Dalton}} {{legend|#A51B12|West Vancouver-Garibaldi: Ted Nebbeling}} {{legend|#F4A460|Yale-Lillooet: Harry Lali}}

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 by-election gain
 * = other incumbents renominated
 * = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
 * = Multiple candidates

Seats changing hands
Of the 75 seats, 23 were open, of which 21 had members who chose not to stand for reelection, and two arose from MLAs campaigning in another riding. Voters in only 20 seats changed allegiance from the previous election in 1991:


 * NDP to Liberal (12)
 * Cariboo North
 * Delta North
 * Kamloops-North Thompson
 * North Vancouver-Lonsdale
 * Oak Bay-Gordon Head
 * Okanagan-Boundary
 * Okanagan-Penticton
 * Parksville-Qualicum
 * Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain
 * Shuswap
 * Vancouver-Little Mountain
 * Vancouver-Point Grey


 * Social Credit to Liberal (5)
 * Abbotsford
 * Matsqui
 * Okanagan-Vernon
 * Okanagan West
 * Prince George-Omineca


 * Social Credit to Reform (2)
 * Peace River North
 * Peace River South


 * Liberal to Progressive Democrat (1)
 * Powell River-Sunshine Coast