British Columbia general election, 1972

British Columbia general election, 1972

← 1969 August 30, 1972 1975 →
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Dave Barrett W. A. C. Bennett Party New Democratic Social Credit Leader since 1969 1952 Leader's seat Coquitlam South Okanagan Last election 12 38 Seats won 38 10 Seat change 26 28 Popular vote 448,260 352,776 Percentage 39.59 31.16 Swing 5.67 15.63   Third party Fourth party   Leader David Anderson Derril Thomas Warren Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1972 1971 Leader's seat Ran in Victoria Ran in North Vancouver-Seymour (lost) Last election 5 0 Seats won 5 2 Seat change 0 2 Popular vote 185,640 143,450 Percentage 16.40 12.67 Swing 2.63 12.56
Premier before election W. A. C. Bennett Social Credit Premier-designate Dave Barrett New Democratic

W. A. C. Bennett
Social Credit

Dave Barrett
New Democratic

The 30th general election for the Canadian province of British Columbia was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on July 24, 1972, and held on August 30, 1972. The new legislature met for the first time on October 17, 1972. David Barrett led the social democratic New Democratic Party to victory, winning a majority government.

The Social Credit Party, led by Premier W.A.C. Bennett, was defeated after governing British Columbia since the 1952 election. Social Credit's share of the popular vote fell by over 15 percentage points, and the party lost 28 of the seats it had won in the previous election.

The Liberal Party held onto its five seats, while the Progressive Conservative Party, under the leadership of Derrill Warren, returned to the legislature for the first time since the 1953 election by winning two seats.

In four ridings and part of a fifth, a referendum was held concurrently with the election.

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