1983 British Columbia general election

British Columbia general election, 1983

May 5, 1983
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 29 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Bill Bennett Dave Barrett Party Social Credit New Democratic Leader since 1973 1969 Leader's seat Okanagan South Vancouver East Last election 31 26 Seats won 35 22 Seat change +4 -4 Popular vote 820,807 741,354 Percentage 49.76 44.94 Swing +1.53 -1.05
Premier before election Bill Bennett Social Credit Premier-designate Bill Bennett Social Credit

The British Columbia general election of 1983 was the 33rd provincial 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 April 7, 1983. The election was held on May 5, 1983. The new legislature that resulted from this election met for the first time on June 23, 1983.

The governing Social Credit Party of British Columbia was re-elected with a majority government, defeating the opposition New Democratic Party of British Columbia. The “Socreds” increased both their share of the popular vote almost half of all votes) and their number of seats in the legislature. No other parties other than the Socreds and the NDP won seats in the legislature.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1979	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Social Credit	Bill Bennett	57	31	35	+12.9%	820,807	49.76%	+1.53%
	New Democratic	Dave Barrett	57	26	22	-15.4%	741,354	44.94%	-1.05%
	Liberal	Shirley McLoughlin	52	-	-	-	44,442	2.69%	+2.22%
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Westwood	12	-	-	-	19,131	1.16%	-3.90%
	Western Canada Concept	Doug Christie	18	*	-	*	14,185	0.86%	*
	Independent		18	-	-	-	5,225	0.32%	+0.24%
	Green	Adriane Carr	4	*	-	*	3,078	0.19%	*
	Communist		4	-	-	-	837	0.05%	-0.03%
	Western National		2	*	-	*	474	0.03%	*
Total			224	57	57	-	1,649,533	100%
Source: Elections BC

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties