# 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:
| Abolished ridings | New ridings |
| Renaming of districts ||
| Columbia | Columbia River |
| Salmon Arm | Shuswap |
| Reduction of multi-member district ||
| Victoria City (3 MLAs) | Victoria City (2 MLAs) |
| Merger of districts ||
| Cranbrook Fernie | Kootenay |
| Grand Forks-Greenwood Similkameen | Boundary-Similkameen |
| Kaslo-Slocan Revelstoke | Revelstoke-Slocan |
| Lillooet Yale | Yale-Lillooet |
| Reorganization of districts ||
| Cowichan-Newcastle Nanaimo and the Islands Saanich | Cowichan-Malahat Nanaimo Saanich and the Islands |
| Division of districts ||
| Burnaby (2 MLAs) | Burnaby-Edmonds Burnaby North Burnaby-Willingdon |
| Delta (2 MLAs) | Richmond Delta Langley Surrey |
| Dewdney | Coquitlam Dewdney |
| North Vancouver (2 MLAs) | North Vancouver-Capilano North Vancouver-Seymour West Vancouver-Howe Sound |
| Vancouver-Point Grey (3 MLAs) | Vancouver-Little Mountain (2 MLAs) Vancouver-Point Grey (2 MLAs) Vancouver South (2 MLAs) |

## Results

Elections to the 28th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1966) :
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | Candidates | 1963 | 1966 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) |
| | Social Credit | W.A.C. Bennett | 55 | 33 | 33 | | 342,751 | 52,328 | 45.59 | 4.76 |
| | New Democratic | Bob Strachan | 55 | 14 | 16 | 2 | 252,753 | 16,251 | 33.62 | 5.82 |
| | Liberal | Ray Perrault | 53 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 152,155 | 41,208 | 20.24 | 0.26 |
| | Progressive Conservative | | 3 | – | – | – | 1,409 | 107,681 | 0.18 | 11.09 |
| | Communist | | 6 | – | – | – | 1,097 | 248 | 0.14 | 0.05 |
| | Independent | | 6 | – | – | – | 1,711 | 1,421 | 0.23 | 0.20 |
| Total | Total | Total | 178 | 52 | 55 | 55 | 751,876 | 751,876 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 7,056 | 924 | | |
| Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | Actual voters who voted | 596,716 | 11,956 | 68.28% | 1.43 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 873,927 | 787 | | |
Seats and popular vote by party :
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | Change (pp) |
| █ Social Credit | 33 / 55 | 45.59% | 4.76 | 4.76 |
| █ New Democratic | 16 / 55 | 33.62% | 5.82 | 5.82 |
| █ Liberal | 6 / 55 | 20.24% | 0.26 | 0.26 |
| █ Progressive Conservative | 0 / 55 | 0.18% | -11.09 | |
| █ Other | 0 / 55 | 0.37% | 0.25 | 0.25 |

## MLAs elected
### Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (single-member districts) :
| Riding | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Winning party | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Name | 1963 | 1963 | Party | Party | Votes | Share | Margin # | Margin % | SC | NDP | Lib | PC | Comm | Ind | Total |
| Alberni | | NDP | | SC | 6,039 | 55.55% | 1,718 | 15.80% | 6,039 | 4,321 | 511 | – | – | – | 10,871 |
| Atlin | | NDP | | NDP | 572 | 59.71% | 311 | 32.47% | 261 | 572 | 125 | – | – | – | 958 |
| Boundary-Similkameen | New | New | | SC | 6,547 | 55.44% | 2,878 | 24.37% | 6,547 | 3,669 | 1,594 | – | – | – | 11,810 |
| Burnaby-Edmonds | New | New | | NDP | 5,748 | 48.71% | 1,118 | 9.48% | 4,630 | 5,748 | 1,423 | – | – | – | 11,801 |
| Burnaby North | New | New | | NDP | 6,984 | 49.72% | 1,879 | 13.38% | 5,105 | 6,984 | 1,957 | – | – | – | 14,046 |
| Burnaby-Willingdon | New | New | | NDP | 6,153 | 44.47% | 524 | 3.78% | 5,629 | 6,153 | 2,053 | – | – | – | 13,835 |
| Cariboo | | SC | | SC | 3,830 | 54.10% | 1,300 | 18.36% | 3,830 | 2,530 | 719 | – | – | – | 7,079 |
| Chilliwack | | SC | | SC | 7,703 | 63.17% | 4,622 | 37.91% | 7,703 | 3,081 | 1,411 | – | – | – | 12,195 |
| Columbia River | | SC | | SC | 1,563 | 58.45% | 929 | 34.74% | 1,563 | 477 | 634 | – | – | – | 2,674 |
| Comox | | SC | | SC | 5,449 | 49.39% | 1,140 | 10.34% | 5,449 | 4,309 | 1,276 | – | – | – | 11,033 |
| Coquitlam | New | New | | NDP | 9,517 | 55.20% | 3,452 | 20.02% | 6,065 | 9,517 | 1,658 | – | – | – | 17,240 |
| Cowichan-Malahat | New | New | | NDP | 5,646 | 52.08% | 1,234 | 11.38% | 4,412 | 5,646 | 783 | – | – | – | 10,841 |
| Delta | New | New | | SC | 7,768 | 46.46% | 1,690 | 10.11% | 7,768 | 6,078 | 1,954 | 921 | – | – | 16,721 |
| Dewdney | | NDP | | SC | 6,507 | 53.42% | 1,979 | 16.25% | 6,507 | 4,528 | 1,146 | – | – | – | 12,181 |
| Esquimalt | | SC | | SC | 6,075 | 53.35% | 2,630 | 23.10% | 6,075 | 3,445 | 1,867 | – | – | – | 11,387 |
| Fort George | | SC | | SC | 6,282 | 60.42% | 3,480 | 33.47% | 6,282 | 2,802 | 1,313 | – | – | – | 10,397 |
| Kamloops | | SC | | SC | 5,753 | 52.35% | 2,516 | 22.90% | 5,753 | 3,237 | 2,000 | – | – | – | 10,990 |
| Kootenay | New | New | | NDP | 3,605 | 40.98% | 535 | 6.09% | 3,070 | 3,605 | 2,123 | – | – | – | 8,798 |
| Langley | New | New | | SC | 7,206 | 58.28% | 3,307 | 26.75% | 7,206 | 3,899 | 1,260 | – | – | – | 12,365 |
| Mackenzie | | NDP | | SC | 4,945 | 52.68% | 1,359 | 14.47% | 4,945 | 3,586 | 855 | – | – | – | 9,386 |
| Nanaimo | New | New | | NDP | 5,625 | 47.99% | 45 | 0.38% | 5,580 | 5,625 | 516 | – | – | – | 11,721 |
| Nelson-Creston | | SC | | SC | 4,683 | 59.29% | 2,359 | 29.87% | 4,683 | 2,324 | 892 | – | – | – | 7,899 |
| New Westminster | | NDP | | NDP | 5,751 | 44.65% | 199 | 1.54% | 5,552 | 5,751 | 1,577 | – | – | – | 12,880 |
| North Okanagan | | SC | | SC | 3,841 | 48.59% | 1,433 | 18.13% | 3,841 | 1,535 | 2,408 | – | – | 121 | 7,905 |
| North Peace River | | SC | | SC | 1,799 | 48.44% | 1,216 | 32.74% | 1,799 | 511 | 565 | – | – | 839 | 3,714 |
| North Vancouver-Capilano | New | New | | Lib | 6,426 | 51.49% | 2,450 | 19.63% | 3,976 | 1,816 | 6,426 | 261 | – | – | 12,479 |
| North Vancouver-Seymour | New | New | | Lib | 5,301 | 39.61% | 694 | 5.18% | 4,607 | 3,137 | 5,301 | 227 | 110 | – | 13,382 |
| Oak Bay | | Lib | | Lib | 8,118 | 54.48% | 2,310 | 15.51% | 5,808 | 976 | 8,118 | – | – | – | 14,902 |
| Omineca | | SC | | SC | 2,337 | 70.16% | 1,343 | 40.32% | 2,337 | 994 | – | – | – | – | 3,331 |
| Prince Rupert | | SC | | SC | 2,647 | 52.90% | 834 | 16.67% | 2,647 | 1,813 | 544 | – | – | – | 5,004 |
| Revelstoke-Slocan | New | New | | NDP | 2,158 | 44.67% | 138 | 2.86% | 2,020 | 2,158 | 548 | – | – | 105 | 4,831 |
| Richmond | New | New | | SC | 6,521 | 43.33% | 372 | 2.48% | 6,521 | 6,149 | 2,381 | – | – | – | 15,051 |
| Rossland-Trail | | SC | | SC | 5,600 | 55.93% | 3,147 | 31.43% | 5,600 | 2,453 | 1,960 | – | – | – | 10,013 |
| Saanich and the Islands | New | New | | SC | 7,237 | 50.05% | 3,416 | 23.62% | 7,237 | 3,821 | 3,401 | – | – | – | 14,459 |
| Shuswap | | SC | | SC | 3,995 | 54.07% | 1,400 | 18.95% | 3,995 | 2,595 | 760 | – | 39 | – | 7,389 |
| Skeena | | SC | | SC | 3,046 | 55.39% | 1,304 | 23.71% | 3,046 | 1,742 | 711 | – | – | – | 5,499 |
| South Okanagan | | SC | | SC | 8,747 | 73.15% | 6,811 | 56.96% | 8,747 | 1,936 | 1,274 | – | – | – | 11,957 |
| South Peace River | | SC | | SC | 2,585 | 59.78% | 1,697 | 39.24% | 2,585 | 851 | 888 | – | – | – | 4,324 |
| Surrey | New | New | | NDP | 7,039 | 48.20% | 785 | 5.38% | 6,254 | 7,039 | 1,234 | – | 77 | – | 14,604 |
| West Vancouver-Howe Sound | New | New | | Lib | 8,346 | 52.76% | 2,847 | 18.00% | 5,499 | 1,975 | 8,346 | – | – | – | 15,820 |
| Yale-Lillooet | New | New | | NDP | 3,885 | 55.37% | 754 | 10.74% | 3,131 | 3,885 | – | – | – | – | 7,016 |
* ↑ Jacob Francis Huhn, previously elected as the Socred incumbent, received 583 votes.
    = 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
Results by riding - 1966 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) :
| Riding | Riding | Winning party | Winning party | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Name | MLAs | 1963 | 1966 | SC | NDP | Lib | PC | Comm | Ind | Total |
| Vancouver-Burrard | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7,584 | 9,849 | 3,190 | – | – | – | 40,386 |
| Vancouver-Burrard | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7,584 | 9,498 | 2,681 | – | – | – | 40,386 |
| Vancouver Centre | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8,157 | 7,257 | 4,147 | – | 253 | 144 | 38,570 |
| Vancouver Centre | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7,938 | 6,871 | 3,803 | – | – | – | 38,570 |
| Vancouver East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8,644 | 12,502 | 1,637 | – | 377 | – | 45,521 |
| Vancouver East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8,593 | 12,185 | 1,583 | – | – | – | 45,521 |
| Vancouver-Little Mountain | 2 | New | 2 | 12,380 | 8,620 | 4,681 | – | – | – | 50,040 |
| Vancouver-Little Mountain | 2 | New | 2 | 11,566 | 8,523 | 4,270 | – | – | – | 50,040 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | 2 | 2 1 | 2 | 11,494 | 2,934 | 17,400 | – | – | – | 57,472 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | 2 | 2 1 | 2 | 9,284 | 2,853 | 13,507 | – | – | – | 57,472 |
| Vancouver South | 2 | New | 2 | 12,259 | 9,067 | 5,698 | – | – | 502 | 53,784 |
| Vancouver South | 2 | New | 2 | 11,740 | 8,843 | 5,675 | – | – | – | 53,784 |
| Victoria City | 2 | 3 | 2 | 13,068 | 5,304 | 4,774 | – | 241 | – | 45,315 |
| Victoria City | 2 | 3 | 2 | 12,156 | 5,175 | 4,597 | – | – | – | 45,315 |
* ↑ Leslie Peterson was previously MLA in Vancouver Centre
* ↑ Ralph Raymond Loffmark was previously MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey.
* ↑ Thomas Audley Bate was MLA in Vancouver-Point Grey during 1953-1963.
    = winning candidate