The 1991 British Columbia general election was the 35th provincial 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 September 19, 1991, and held on October 17, 1991.
The New Democratic Party of Mike Harcourt defeated the incumbent Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which had been beset by scandals during Bill Vander Zalm's only term as premier. Liberal Party leader Gordon Wilson surprised observers by leading his party to winning one-third of the votes cast and 23 percent of the seats, and forming the official opposition in the legislature after having held no seats at all since 1979. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1992.
The election was held at the same time as a referendum on recall and initiative. It was also the first British Columbia general election with only single-member districts.
Background Under Vander Zalm's leadership, Socred's control shifted from urban fiscal conservatives to social conservatives. Vander Zalm seemingly cruised to victory in the 1986 provincial election, held just a month after he was sworn in. In truth, however, a number of more moderate Socreds were not comfortable with the party's rightward turn on social issues, and began defecting to the BC Liberals.
This process was exacerbated by Vander Zalm's eccentricity, and the constant scandals that plagued his government. As well, Vander Zalm allowed his principal secretary, David Poole, to amass a substantial amount of power, despite being unelected.
Vander Zalm resigned in April 1991 amid a conflict of interest scandal surrounding the sale of a theme park that he owned. Socred members elected the lesser-known Deputy Premier Rita Johnston, a close ally of Vander Zalm, to be their new leader, over Grace McCarthy, a longtime associate of former Premier Bill Bennett. Many viewed this as a mistake, as Johnston was close to the Vander Zalm legacy; even NDP leader Mike Harcourt admitted later that he preferred Johnston over McCarthy, as the latter would be a much tougher opponent in an election.
Campaign Johnston had little time to make up ground in the polls or distance herself from the now-detested Vander Zalm. Additionally, the Socreds were still bitterly divided over the bruising leadership contest. The NDP went into the elections as heavy favourites after leading in opinion polls for almost four years.
The Liberals, who had not been represented in the legislature since 1979, gained slightly in the polls due to great resentment against the ruling Socreds and skepticism towards the NDP. A turning point came when Wilson successfully took legal action to be included in the televised leaders' debate, which took place on 8 October. During the debate Johnston and Harcourt exchanged many bitter attacks, while Wilson, still not considered a serious contender, was able to successfully portray himself as an "outsider" who was above the partisan bickering of the other two parties. Liberal support surged dramatically as a result of Wilson's performance. One of the memorable moments of the debate came as Harcourt and Johnston argued loudly amongst each other, when Wilson pointed towards them and declared, "Here's a classic example of why nothing ever gets done in the province of British Columbia."
Opinion polls Last day of poll Others Pollster Sample Margin Source Results 40.7 33.3 24.1 1.9 10 October 199138 30 29 3 Angus Reid ± 3,1 25 September 199148(39) 11(9) 39(32) 2(2) 15 July 199047 8 36 9 Angus Reid ± 3,5 21 January 199049 43 Angus Reid ± 4,2 25 April 198953 10 32 5 Angus Reid ± 3,5 20 April 198948 11 35 6 Marktrend 4 November 198843 18 34 5 Marktrend 1 October 198841 23 Goldfarb ± 3,0 29 November 198746(31) 6(4) 40(27) 7(5) ± 4,5 1986 Elections 42.6 6.7 49.3 1.4
Riding-specific polls Oak Bay-Gordon Head by-election + Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level Polling firmLast day of survey Source BCNDP BCSC BCLP Other SampleBy-election 1989December 13, 198945.2643.689.111.94Angus ReidDecember 19895238Angus ReidDecember 19894541McIntyre & MustelDecember 7, 198949444Election 1986December 13, 198935.9152.502.389.21
Results The Socreds were swept from power in a massive NDP landslide. This was not due to the NDP winning a higher percentage of the vote as much as it was due to Socred support collapsing in favour of the BC Liberals, splitting the vote. The defeat was magnified by moderate Socred supporters voting Liberal, continuing a shift that dated to early in Vander Zalm's tenure. The combined effect was to decimate the Socred caucus, which was reduced from 47 members to only seven—only three over the minimum for official party status. Johnston herself lost her own seat in Surrey-Newton to NDP challenger Penny Priddy, and all but five members of her cabinet were defeated.
The Liberals returned to the legislature as the official opposition after a 12-year absence, replacing Social Credit as the main alternative to the NDP in the province.
PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1986Elected% Change#%% ChangeNew DemocratsMichael Harcourt 752251 +131.8% 595,391 40.71% -1.89%Gordon Wilson71-17 486,208 33.25% +26.51%Rita Johnston74477 -85.1% 351,660 24.27% -25.27% 42-- – 12,650 0.86% +0.62%Independents16-- – 10,281 0.70% +0.57%Ron Gamble4 *- * 2,673 0.18% * 8 *- * 1,310 0.09% * Libertarian 11-- – 860 0.06% +0.04% Western Canada ConceptDoug Christie5-- – 651 0.04% +0.02%ConservativePeter B. MacdonaldMacdonald was not eligible to run as a candidate in 1991. He moved to Canada at the age of 10 and only discovered during the election campaign that he was a British subject and had never obtained his Canadian citizenship. (Matas, Robert, "B.C. Tory leader ineligible for election He discovered just two weeks ago that he isn't a Canadian citizen", Globe and Mail, October 2, 1991 4-- – 426 0.03% -0.70%Human Race 2 *- * 110 0.01% *Green Go (Green Wing/Rhino) 1 *- * 93 0.01% *Communist League 3-- – 92 0.01% -0.02%Interdependence Party 1 *- * 62 x *Total3176975 +8.7% 1,462,467 100% Source: Elections BC
Notes: x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote.
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
Synopsis of results