# 1909 British Columbia general election

The 1909 British Columbia general election was the twelfth general 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 October 20, 1909, and held on November 25, 1909. The new legislature met for the first time on January 20, 1910.
The governing Conservative Party won its third consecutive term in government with over half of the popular vote and all but four of the 42 seats in the legislature, effectively a rout for the popular incumbent Premier, Sir Richard McBride.
Ten days after the dissolution of the Legislature, James Alexander MacDonald announced his retirement from the leadership of the Liberal Party to become Chief Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court, and John Oliver was selected to take his place. Despite winning almost one-third of the popular vote, the Liberals won only two seats, the same number won by the Socialist Party with only 11.5% of the vote.
The first-past-the-post allocation of seats, combined with the multi-member constituencies in effect at the time, ensured that the Conservatives won with a lead of 34 seats, instead of only a lead of two seats that its proportion of the popular vote should have granted it.
Two candidates campaigned in multiple ridings. McBride won in both Yale and Victoria City, while Oliver was defeated in Delta and Victoria City.

## Results

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (1909) :
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | MLAs | Votes | Votes | Votes | Votes |
| Political party | Political party | Party leader | Candidates | 1907 | 1909 | ± | # | ± | % | ± (pp) |
| | Conservative | Richard McBride | 42 | 26 | 38 | 12 | 53,074 | 22,293 | 52.33% | 3.63 |
| | Liberal | John Oliver | 36 | 13 | 2 | 11 | 33,675 | 10,194 | 33.21% | 3.94 |
| | Socialist | | 20 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11,665 | 6,062 | 11.50% | 2.63 |
| | Independent | | 3 | – | – | – | 2,625 | 2,478 | 2.59% | 2.36 |
| | Canadian Labour | | 1 | – | – | – | 165 | 2,330 | 0.16% | 3.79 |
| | Independent Conservative | | 1 | – | – | – | 154 | 154 | 0.15% | New |
| | Independent Labour | | 1 | – | – | – | 57 | 430 | 0.06% | 0.71 |
| Total | Total | Total | 104 | 42 | 42 | 42 | 101,415 | 101,415 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
Seats and popular vote by party :
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | Change (pp) |
| █ Conservative | 38 / 42 | 52.33% | 3.63 | 3.63 |
| █ Liberal | 2 / 42 | 33.21% | -3.94 | |
| █ Socialist | 2 / 42 | 11.50% | 2.63 | 2.63 |
| █ Labour | 0 / 42 | 0.16% | -3.79 | |
| █ Other | 0 / 42 | 2.80% | 1.47 | 1.47 |

## Results by riding

The following MLAs were elected:

### Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1909 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 |
| Name | 1907 | 1907 | Party | Party | Votes | Share | Margin # | Margin % | Con | Lib | Soc | Ind | Oth | Total |
| Alberni | | Lib | | Lib | 293 | 53.37% | 37 | 6.74% | 256 | 293 | – | – | – | 549 |
| Atlin | | Con | | Con | 107 | 62.21% | 42 | 24.42% | 107 | 65 | – | – | – | 172 |
| Chilliwhack | | Lib | | Con | 604 | 54.07% | 91 | 8.14% | 604 | 513 | – | – | – | 1,117 |
| Columbia | | Con | | Con | 262 | 51.68% | 17 | 3.36% | 262 | 245 | – | – | – | 507 |
| Comox | | Con | | Con | 451 | 45.88% | 245 | 24.92% | 451 | 172 | 206 | – | 154 | 983 |
| Cowichan | | Con | | Con | 365 | 67.59% | 190 | 35.18% | 365 | 175 | – | – | – | 540 |
| Cranbrook | | Lib | | Con | 761 | 54.16% | 260 | 18.50% | 761 | 501 | 143 | – | – | 1,405 |
| Delta | | Lib | | Con | 765 | 58.13% | 214 | 16.26% | 765 | 551 | – | – | – | 1,316 |
| Dewdney | | Con | | Con | 625 | 67.42% | 323 | 34.84% | 625 | 302 | – | – | – | 927 |
| Esquimalt | | Lib | | Lib | 436 | 54.64% | 74 | 9.28% | 362 | 436 | – | – | – | 798 |
| Fernie | | Con | | Con | 795 | 43.00% | 146 | 7.90% | 795 | 405 | 649 | – | – | 1,849 |
| Grand Forks | | Soc | | Con | 516 | 51.60% | 182 | 18.20% | 516 | 150 | 334 | – | – | 1,000 |
| Greenwood | | Lib | | Con | 260 | 42.07% | 56 | 9.06% | 260 | 154 | 204 | – | – | 618 |
| The Islands | | Con | | Con | 270 | 56.60% | 63 | 13.20% | 270 | 207 | – | – | – | 477 |
| Kamloops | | Con | | Con | 872 | 64.40% | 390 | 28.80% | 872 | 482 | – | – | – | 1,354 |
| Kaslo | | Con | | Con | 293 | 68.62% | 159 | 37.24% | 293 | 134 | – | – | – | 427 |
| Lillooet | | Lib | | Con | 167 | 58.80% | 50 | 17.60% | 167 | 117 | – | – | – | 284 |
| Nanaimo City | | Soc | | Soc | 786 | 62.88% | 322 | 25.76% | 464 | – | 786 | – | – | 1,250 |
| Nelson City | | Lib | | Con | 565 | 54.54% | 242 | 23.36% | 565 | 323 | 148 | – | – | 1,036 |
| Newcastle | | Soc | | Soc | 379 | 52.64% | 105 | 14.58% | 274 | – | 379 | 67 | – | 720 |
| New Westminster City | | Con | | Con | 881 | 52.98% | 264 | 25.88% | 881 | 617 | – | – | 165 | 1,663 |
| Okanagan | | Con | | Con | 1,538 | 62.34% | 797 | 32.30% | 1,538 | 741 | 188 | – | – | 2,467 |
| Revelstoke | | Con | | Con | 758 | 62.18% | 418 | 34.29% | 758 | – | 121 | 340 | – | 1,219 |
| Richmond | | Con | | Con | 918 | 57.92% | 251 | 15.84% | 918 | 667 | – | – | – | 1,585 |
| Rossland City | | Lib | | Con | 237 | 38.60% | 20 | 3.26% | 237 | 217 | 160 | – | – | 614 |
| Saanich | | Con | | Con | 412 | 57.62% | 109 | 15.24% | 412 | 303 | – | – | – | 715 |
| Similkameen | | Con | | Con | 440 | 68.22% | 235 | 36.44% | 440 | 205 | – | – | – | 645 |
| Skeena | | Lib | | Con | 822 | 60.35% | 445 | 32.67% | 822 | 377 | 163 | – | – | 1,362 |
| Slocan | | Con | | Con | 309 | 57.43% | | % | 309 | – | 172 | – | 57 | 538 |
| Yale | | Lib | | Con | 455 | 63.19% | 190 | 26.38% | 455 | 265 | – | – | – | 720 |
| Ymir | | Con | | Con | 699 | 65.63% | 333 | 31.26% | 699 | – | 366 | – | – | 1,065 |
    = open seat
    = turnout is above provincial average
    = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
    = incumbent had switched allegiance
    = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
    = incumbency arose from byelection gain
    = other incumbents renominated
    = endorsed by the Liberals
    = multiple candidates
Results by riding - 1909 British Columbia general election (multiple-member districts) :
| Party | Party | Cariboo | Cariboo | Cariboo | Vancouver City | Vancouver City | Vancouver City | Victoria City | Victoria City | Victoria City |
| Party | Party | Votes | Share | Change | Votes | Share | Change | Votes | Share | Change |
| | Conservative | 540 | 63.01% | 19.13% | 25,710 | 50.10% | -1.28% | 10,321 | 53.42% | 5.88% |
| | Liberal | 317 | 36.99% | -19.13% | 18,619 | 36.28% | -0.03% | 6,122 | 31.69% | -3.97% |
| | Socialist | – | – | – | 6,987 | 13.62% | 3.57% | 659 | 3.41% | -0.12% |
| | Independent | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,218 | 11.48% | 11.48% |
| | Canadian Labour | – | – | – | – | – | -2.26% | – | – | -13.28% |
| Total | Total | 857 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 51,316 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 19,320 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Seats won | Seats won | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Incumbents returned | Incumbents returned | – | – | – | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Seat change | Seat change | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |