2013 British Columbia general election

The 2013 British Columbia general election took place on May 14, 2013, to elect the 85 members of the 40th Parliament of British Columbia to the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The British Columbia Liberal Party (BC Liberals) formed the government during the 39th Parliament prior to this general election, initially under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell then after his resignation, Christy Clark. The British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) under the leadership of Carole James, and then Adrian Dix, formed the Official Opposition. The BC Green Party under the leadership of Jane Sterk and the BC Conservative Party under John Cummins were also included in polling, although neither party had representation at the end of the 39th Parliament.

The Liberal Party won its fourth straight majority; Clark was defeated in her riding, but she was re-elected to the legislature in a subsequent by-election in Westside-Kelowna on July 10, 2013, after Liberal MLA Ben Stewart stepped down on her behalf. The NDP remained the official opposition, losing two seats, and the Green Party won its first seat.

Despite their victory, the Liberals had been consistently several points behind the opposition New Democrats in every public opinion poll throughout the campaign. Even poll results released on the last day of the campaign suggested that the New Democrats had an eight to nine percentage point margin over the Liberals. Only one pollster, Forum Research, had released a poll which suggested that the Liberals were close enough that a victory was even possible for them, although even that poll had the New Democrats ahead by two percentage points. The Liberals' upset victory led to significant media debate about the quality of opinion polling in Canadian elections.

Timing
Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the second Tuesday in May of the fourth calendar year after the last election. As an election was held on May 12, 2009, the next election was scheduled for May 14, 2013. The same section, though, makes the fixed election date subject to the Lieutenant Governor's right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as he or she sees fit.

The writs were dropped April 16, 2013, and the general election was held on May 14, 2013, with advance voting made available on May 8 through 11.

Background
After leading the BC Liberals for 17 years, Gordon Campbell announced he would resign as Premier and party leader in November 2010. This was seen as the result of opposition to the Harmonized Sales Tax, which was very unpopular with voters.

In the ensuing leadership campaign, Christy Clark, the eventual winner, suggested she would prefer to hold an election earlier than 2013 to secure her own mandate. She was believed to be preparing her party for an election as early as autumn 2011. However, due to the unfavourable result from the HST referendum, she decided to rule out an early election.

Political parties
This is a list of political parties who ran candidates in the 2013 election:

MLAs elected
{{legend|#A51B12|Abbotsford-Mission: Simon Gibson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Abbotsford South: Darryl Plecas}} {{legend|#A51B12|Abbotsford West: Mike de Jong}} {{legend|#F4A460|Alberni-Pacific Rim: Scott Fraser}} {{legend|#A51B12|Boundary-Similkameen: Linda Larson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Deer Lake: Kathy Corrigan}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Edmonds: Raj Chouhan}} {{legend|#F4A460|Burnaby-Lougheed: Jane Shin}} {{legend|#A51B12|Burnaby North: Richard Lee}} {{legend|#A51B12|Cariboo-Chilcotin: Donna Barnett}} {{legend|#A51B12|Cariboo North: Coralee Oakes}} {{legend|#A51B12|Chilliwack: John Martin}} {{legend|#A51B12|Chilliwack-Hope: Laurie Throness}} {{legend|#F4A460|Columbia River-Revelstoke: Norm Macdonald}} {{legend|#A51B12|Comox Valley: Don McRae}} {{legend|#A51B12|Coquitlam-Burke Mountain: Douglas Horne}} {{legend|#F4A460|Coquitlam-Maillardville: Selina Robinson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Cowichan Valley: Bill Routley}} {{legend|#A51B12|Delta North: Scott Hamilton}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Delta South: Vicki Huntington}} {{legend|#F4A460|Esquimalt-Royal Roads: Maurine Karagianis}} {{legend|#A51B12|Fort Langley-Aldergrove: Rich Coleman}} {{legend|#A51B12|Fraser-Nicola: Jackie Tegart}} {{legend|#F4A460|Juan de Fuca: John Horgan}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kamloops-North Thompson: Terry Lake}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kamloops-South Thompson: Todd Stone}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kelowna-Lake Country: Norm Letnick}} {{legend|#A51B12|Kelowna-Mission: Steve Thomson}}

{{legend|#A51B12|Kootenay East: Bill Bennett}} {{legend|#F4A460|Kootenay West: Katrine Conroy}} {{legend|#A51B12|Langley: Mary Polak}} {{legend|#A51B12|Maple Ridge-Mission: Marc Dalton}} {{legend|#A51B12|Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows: Doug Bing}} {{legend|#F4A460|Nanaimo: Leonard Krog}} {{legend|#F4A460|Nanaimo-North Cowichan: Doug Routley}} {{legend|#A51B12|Nechako Lakes: John Rustad}} {{legend|#F4A460|Nelson-Creston: Michelle Mungall}} {{legend|#F4A460|New Westminster: Judy Darcy}} {{legend|#F4A460|North Coast: Jennifer Rice}} {{legend|#F4A460|North Island: Claire Trevena}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Lonsdale: Naomi Yamamoto}} {{legend|#A51B12|North Vancouver-Seymour: Jane Thornthwaite}} {{legend|#99C955|Oak Bay-Gordon Head: Andrew Weaver}} {{legend|#A51B12|Parksville-Qualicum: Michelle Stilwell}} {{legend|#A51B12|Peace River North: Pat Pimm}} {{legend|#A51B12|Peace River South: Mike Bernier}} {{legend|#A51B12|Penticton: Dan Ashton}} {{legend|#F4A460|Port Coquitlam: Mike Farnworth}} {{legend|#A51B12|Port Moody-Coquitlam: Linda Reimer}} {{legend|#F4A460|Powell River-Sunshine Coast: Nicholas Simons}} {{legend|#A51B12|Prince George-Mackenzie: Mike Morris}} {{legend|#A51B12|Prince George-Valemount: Shirley Bond}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond Centre: Teresa Wat}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond East: Linda Reid}} {{legend|#A51B12|Richmond-Steveston: John Yap}} {{legend|#F4A460|Saanich North and the Islands: Gary Holman}}

{{legend|#F4A460|Saanich South: Lana Popham}} {{legend|#A51B12|Shuswap: Greg Kyllo}} {{legend|#F4A460|Skeena: Robin Austin}} {{legend|#F4A460|Stikine: Doug Donaldson}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-Cloverdale: Stephanie Cadieux}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-Fleetwood: Peter Fassbender}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Green Timbers: Sue Hammell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Newton: Harry Bains}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-Panorama: Marvin Hunt}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-Tynehead: Amrik Virk}} {{legend|#F4A460|Surrey-Whalley: Bruce Ralston}} {{legend|#A51B12|Surrey-White Rock: Gordon Hogg}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Fairview: George Heyman}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-False Creek: Sam Sullivan}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Fraserview: Suzanne Anton}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Hastings: Shane Simpson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Kensington: Mable Elmore}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Kingsway: Adrian Dix}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Langara: Moira Stilwell}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Mount Pleasant: Jenny Kwan}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-Point Grey: David Eby}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vancouver-Quilchena: Andrew Wilkinson}} {{legend|#F4A460|Vancouver-West End: Spencer Chandra Herbert}} {{legend|#A51B12|Vernon-Monashee: Eric Foster}} {{legend|#F4A460|Victoria-Beacon Hill: Carole James}} {{legend|#F4A460|Victoria-Swan Lake: Rob Fleming}} {{legend|#A51B12|West Vancouver-Capilano: Ralph Sultan}} {{legend|#A51B12|West Vancouver-Sea to Sky: Jordan Sturdy}} {{legend|#A51B12|Westside-Kelowna: Ben Stewart}}

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

Voter turnout
Voter turnout was 57.1 percent, but varied from riding to riding. 10 of the 85 ridings had less than 50 percent voter turnout. Richmond and Kelowna were the only major cities with under 50 percent turnout.

Retiring incumbents

 * Liberals
 * George Abbott, Shuswap
 * Bill Barisoff, Penticton
 * Pat Bell, Prince George-Mackenzie
 * Harry Bloy, Burnaby-Lougheed
 * Ron Cantelon, Parksville-Qualicum
 * Murray Coell, Saanich North and the Islands
 * Kevin Falcon, Surrey-Cloverdale
 * Colin Hansen, Vancouver-Quilchena
 * Randy Hawes, Abbotsford-Mission
 * Dave Hayer, Surrey-Tynehead
 * Kash Heed, Vancouver-Fraserview
 * Rob Howard, Richmond Centre
 * Kevin Krueger, Kamloops-South Thompson
 * Blair Lekstrom, Peace River South
 * John Les, Chilliwack
 * Joan McIntyre, West Vancouver-Sea to Sky
 * Mary McNeil, Vancouver-False Creek


 * New Democrats
 * Dawn Black, New Westminster
 * Gary Coons, North Coast
 * Guy Gentner, Delta North
 * Michael Sather, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows
 * Diane Thorne, Coquitlam-Maillardville


 * Independents
 * John Slater, Boundary-Similkameen

Seats changing hands
8 incumbent MLAs lost their seats: Open seats changing hands