# 1945 British Columbia general election

The 1945 British Columbia general election was the 21st 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 31, 1945, and held on October 25, 1945. The new legislature met for the first time on February 21, 1946.
A centre-right coalition was formed by the Liberal and Conservative (now called the Progressive Conservative) parties in order to defeat the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.
Although the Coalition won fewer votes than the Liberal and Conservative parties won in total in the previous election, the Coalition still won more than half of the votes, captured more than half the seats, and formed a majority government.

## Results

Elections to the 21st Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1945) :
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | Candidates | 1941 | 1945 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) |
| | Coalition | John Hart Royal Maitland | 47 | 32 | 37 | 5 | 261,147 | 26,979 | 55.83 | 7.65 |
| | Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) | Harold Winch | 48 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 175,960 | 24,520 | 37.62 | 4.26 |
| | Labour (all factions) | | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 1,395 | 5,746 | 0.30 | 1.27 |
| | Liberal | | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1,681 | – | Changed allegiance |
| | Labor-Progressive Party (LPP) | | 21 | – | – | – | 16,479 | 16,479 | 3.52 | New |
| | Social Credit (alliance) | | 16 | – | – | – | 6,627 | 6,627 | 1.42 | New |
| | People's CCF | | 2 | – | – | – | 2,786 | 2,786 | 0.60 | New |
| | Independent | | 2 | – | – | – | 1,532 | 106 | 0.33 | 0.03 |
| | Independent PC | | 2 | – | – | – | 748 | 748 | 0.16 | New |
| | Democratic | | 1 | – | – | – | 423 | 423 | 0.09 | New |
| | Socialist Labour | | 3 | – | – | – | 285 | 398 | 0.06 | 0.09 |
| | Independent Liberal | | 1 | – | – | – | 199 | 199 | 0.04 | New |
| | Socialist | | 1 | – | – | – | 105 | 105 | 0.02 | New |
| | Progressive Liberal | | 1 | – | – | – | 61 | 61 | 0.01 | New |
| Total | Total | Total | 147 | 48 | 48 | 48 | 467,747 | 467,747 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 3,899 | 898 | | |
| 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 | 298,387 | 5,514 | 62.66% | 10.07 |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | 476,222 | 58,383 | | |
Seats and popular vote by party :
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | Change (pp) |
| █ Coalition | 37 / 48 | 55.83% | -7.65 | |
| █ Co-operative Commonwealth | 10 / 48 | 37.62% | 4.26 | 4.26 |
| █ Labor-Progressive | 0 / 48 | 3.52% | 3.52 | 3.52 |
| █ Social Credit | 0 / 48 | 1.42% | 1.42 | 1.42 |
| █ Other | 1 / 48 | 1.61% | -1.55 | |

## MLAs elected
### Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1945 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 | 1941 | 1941 | Party | Party | Votes | Share | Margin # | Margin % | Coal | CCF | LPP | SC | Ind | Oth | Total |
| Alberni | | Lib | | Coal | 2,135 | 54.02% | 877 | 22.19% | 2,135 | 1,258 | 559 | – | – | – | 3,952 |
| Atlin | | Lib | | Coal | 297 | 50.42% | 5 | 0.84% | 297 | 292 | – | – | – | – | 589 |
| Burnaby | | CCF | | CCF | 5,905 | 50.56% | 1,172 | 10.04% | 4,733 | 5,905 | 744 | 298 | – | – | 11,680 |
| Cariboo | | Lib | | Coal | 1,370 | 57.93% | 375 | 15.86% | 1,370 | 995 | – | – | – | – | 2,365 |
| Chilliwack | | Con | | Coal | 3,804 | 62.37% | 1,509 | 24.74% | 3,804 | 2,295 | – | – | – | – | 6,099 |
| Columbia | | Lib | | Coal | 671 | 53.30% | 83 | 6.60% | 671 | 588 | – | – | – | – | 1,259 |
| Comox | | CCF | | Coal | 3,432 | 45.62% | 70 | 0.93% | 3,432 | 3,362 | 729 | – | – | – | 7,523 |
| Cowichan-Newcastle | | CCF | | CCF | 3,768 | 55.33% | 726 | 10.66% | 3,042 | 3,768 | – | – | – | – | 6,810 |
| Cranbrook | | Con | | Coal | 2,077 | 49.04% | 112 | 2.64% | 2,077 | 1,965 | 193 | – | – | – | 4,235 |
| Delta | | CCF | | Coal | 5,859 | 53.64% | 796 | 7.28% | 5,859 | 5,063 | – | – | – | – | 10,922 |
| Dewdney | | Con | | Coal | 4,586 | 53.71% | 633 | 7.42% | 4,586 | 3,953 | – | – | – | – | 8,539 |
| Esquimalt | | Con | | Coal | 2,568 | 56.35% | 579 | 12.70% | 2,568 | 1,989 | – | – | – | – | 4,557 |
| Fernie | | Lab | | Lab | 1,289 | 42.28% | 271 | 8.89% | 1,018 | 742 | – | – | – | 1,289 | 3,049 |
| Fort George | | Lib | | CCF | 1,726 | 55.73% | 355 | 11.46% | 1,371 | 1,726 | – | – | – | – | 3,097 |
| Grand Forks-Greenwood | | Con | | Coal | 707 | 52.06% | 246 | 18.11% | 707 | 461 | 84 | – | – | 106 | 1,358 |
| Kamloops | | Lib | | Coal | 2,804 | 57.78% | 911 | 18.77% | 2,804 | 1,893 | 156 | – | – | – | 4,853 |
| Kaslo-Slocan | | Lib | | CCF | 1,098 | 53.12% | 129 | 6.24% | 969 | 1,098 | – | – | – | – | 2,067 |
| Lillooet | | Con | | Coal | 1,143 | 51.42% | 320 | 14.40% | 1,143 | 823 | – | 196 | – | 61 | 2,233 |
| Mackenzie | | CCF | | CCF | 2,961 | 52.19% | 648 | 11.42% | 2,313 | 2,961 | 293 | 106 | – | – | 5,673 |
| Nanaimo and the Islands | | Lib | | Coal | 3,124 | 54.24% | 577 | 10.02% | 3,124 | 2,547 | – | 89 | – | – | 5,760 |
| Nelson-Creston | | Lib | | Coal | 3,055 | 58.59% | 1,806 | 34.64% | 3,055 | 1,249 | – | – | 184 | 726 | 5,214 |
| New Westminster | | Lib | | Coal | 4,900 | 57.91% | 1,933 | 22.85% | 4,900 | 2,967 | 595 | – | – | – | 8,462 |
| North Okanagan | | Lib | | Coal | 2,990 | 59.78% | 1,408 | 28.15% | 2,990 | 1,582 | – | 430 | – | – | 5,002 |
| North Vancouver | | CCF | | Coal | 5,912 | 54.20% | 1,842 | 16.89% | 5,912 | 4,070 | 646 | 280 | – | – | 10,908 |
| Oak Bay | | Con | | Coal | 4,598 | 82.31% | 3,610 | 64.62% | 4,598 | 988 | – | – | – | – | 5,586 |
| Omineca | | Lib | | CCF | 932 | 51.58% | 57 | 3.16% | 875 | 932 | – | – | – | – | 1,807 |
| Peace River | | Lib | | CCF | 1,682 | 47.85% | 565 | 16.07% | 1,117 | 1,682 | – | 716 | – | – | 3,515 |
| Prince Rupert | | Lib | | CCF | 1,873 | 49.83% | 525 | 13.97% | – | 1,873 | 538 | – | 1,348 | – | 3,759 |
| Revelstoke | | Lib | | Coal | 1,089 | 51.17% | 50 | 2.34% | 1,089 | 1,039 | – | – | – | – | 2,128 |
| Rossland-Trail | | CCF | | Coal | 3,171 | 49.35% | 1,111 | 17.29% | 3,171 | 933 | – | 261 | – | 2,060 | 6,425 |
| Saanich | | Lib | | Coal | 5,414 | 57.85% | 1,983 | 21.19% | 5,414 | 3,431 | 239 | – | – | 275 | 9,359 |
| Salmon Arm | | Con | | Coal | 1,560 | 60.00% | 520 | 20.00% | 1,560 | 1,040 | – | – | – | – | 2,600 |
| Similkameen | | CCF | | Coal | 3,447 | 57.09% | 856 | 14.18% | 3,447 | 2,591 | – | – | – | – | 6,038 |
| Skeena | | Lib | | Coal | 901 | 58.7% | 267 | 17.40% | 901 | 634 | – | – | – | – | 1,535 |
| South Okanagan | | Con | | Coal | 3,706 | 64.25% | 1,644 | 28.50% | 3,706 | 2,062 | – | – | – | – | 5,768 |
| Yale | | Lib | | Coal | 1,077 | 66.77% | 541 | 33.54% | 1,077 | 536 | – | – | – | – | 1,613 |
    = open seat
    = 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 - 1945 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) :
| Riding | Riding | Winning party | Winning party | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Name | MLAs | 1941 | 1945 | Coal | CCF | LPP | SC | Ind | Oth | Total |
| Vancouver-Burrard | 2 | 2 | 2 | 29,649 | 20,221 | 2,030 | 1,219 | – | 107 | 53,226 |
| Vancouver Centre | 2 | 2 | 2 | 21,854 | 15,000 | 3,967 | 959 | – | 426 | 42,206 |
| Vancouver East | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18,980 | 25,721 | 2,798 | 705 | – | 56 | 48,260 |
| Vancouver-Point Grey | 3 | 3 | 3 | 67,276 | 26,859 | 2,472 | 625 | – | 423 | 97,655 |
| Victoria City | 3 | 3 | 3 | 31,553 | 16,866 | 436 | 743 | – | 473 | 50,071 |