- 40th British Columbia general election
-
40th British Columbia general election 
2009 ←
membersOn or before May 14, 2013 → 41st 85 seats in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia
43 seats are needed for a majorityOpinion polls 
Leader Christy Clark Adrian Dix Party BC Liberal New Democrat Leader since February 26, 2011 April 17, 2011 Leader's seat Vancouver-Point Grey Vancouver-Kingsway Last election 49 seats, 45.82% 35 seats, 42.15% Current seats 48 34 
Leader Jane Sterk John Cummins Party Green Conservative Leader since 2007 May 28, 2011 Leader's seat TBA TBA Last election 0 seats, 8.21% 0 seats, 2.10% Current seats 0 0
Incumbent Premier
The 40th British Columbia general election is tentatively scheduled for May 14, 2013, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The BC Liberal Party formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell. The New Democratic Party under the leadership of Adrian Dix is the Official Opposition.
Contents
Timing
Section 23 of British Columbia's Constitution Act provides that general elections occur on the second Tuesday of fourth calendar year after the last election.[1] As the most recent election was on May 12, 2009, the next election would be held on May 14, 2013, under that provision. The same section though makes the fixed election date subject to the Lieutenant Governor's right to dissolve the Legislative Assembly as he or she sees fit.[1]
Background
After leading the BC Liberals for 17 years, Gordon Campbell announced he would resign as Premier and party leader in November 2010. This was seen as the result of opposition to the Harmonized Sales Tax, which was very unpopular with voters.[2]
In the ensuing leadership campaign, Christy Clark, the eventual winner, suggested she would prefer to hold an election earlier than 2013 to secure her own mandate.[3] She is believed to be preparing her party for an election as early as autumn 2011.[4] However, due to the unfavourable result from the HST referendum, she has decided to rule out an early election.[5]
Registered political parties
This is a list of currently registered political parties.[6]
Party Leader Notes British Columbia Liberal Party Christy Clark The BC Liberals won the 2009 election under Gordon Campbell. Polling numbers have been hard upon the Liberals since their re-election, with many polls stating the prevailing reason as the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax, although a budget deficit and service cuts were also shown to be factors. On February 26, 2011, Christy Clark was chosen as its leader in their 2011 leadership convention.[7]
British Columbia New Democratic Party Adrian Dix On April 17, 2011, Adrian Dix was chosen as its leader in their 2011 leadership convention. Green Party of British Columbia Jane Sterk The BC Greens have continued to poll in the low-teens despite a low profile. While they managed not to go into debt following the 2009 provincial election, the party does not possess the resources and organization of the other major parties. British Columbia Conservative Party John Cummins British Columbia Refederation Party Ingrid Voigt British Columbia Libertarian Party TBD Reform Party of British Columbia David Charles Hawkins Nation Alliance Party Wei Ping Chen Sex Party John Ince Communist Party of British Columbia George Gidora People's Front Charles Boylan British Columbia Marijuana Party Marc Emery Your Political Party James Filippelli Work Less Party of British Columbia Conrad Schmidt Western Canada Concept Doug Christie BC First Party TBD BC First founding Annual General Meeting is being planned for early 2012. Opinion polls
Polling Firm Date of Polling Link Lib. NDP Green Cons. Other Angus Reid Public Opinion October 31 - November 1, 2011 PDF 31 40 8 18 Ipsos Reid September 28 - October 3, 2011 PDF 38 45 6 12 Robbins SCE Research September 23 - October 1, 2011 [1] 34 38 5.5 20 Robbins SCE Research September 9-17, 2011 [2] 34 44 5 16 Robbins SCE Research August 27 - September 3, 2011 [3] 34.93 39.84 9.31 15.45 Robbins SCE Research July 21 - August 2, 2011 [4] 34 40.5 8 17.5 Robbins SCE Research May 12-18, 2011 [5] 31.9 40.9 5.5 17.4 3.2 Ipsos Reid May 9-13, 2011 PDF 41 39 8 10 Mustel Group May 15, 2011 [6] 37 35 9 18 1 Angus Reid Public Opinion March 16-17, 2011 PDF 43 38 10 5 4 Angus Reid Public Opinion December 20–21, 2010 PDF 38 38 12 7 5 Angus Reid Public Opinion December 7–8, 2010 PDF 36 36 14 6 8 Mustel Group November 4–15, 2010 PDF 37 42 10 9 3 Angus Reid Public Opinion October 13–14, 2010 HTML 24 49 13 8 6 Mustel Group September 7, 2010 PDF 33 42 12 11 2 Angus Reid Public Opinion July 28, 2010 PDF 27 48 13 6 6 Angus Reid Public Opinion July 8, 2010 PDF 23 46 14 8 9 Angus Reid Public Opinion June 6, 2010 PDF 26 46 14 8 6 Mustel Group May 16, 2010 PDF 32 44 13 7 3 Angus Reid Public Opinion April 14, 2010 PDF 29 47 15 5 4 Angus Reid Public Opinion March 19, 2010 PDF 35 43 13 6 3 Innovation Research (604 region only) November 2009 PHP 29 33 14 18 6 Mustel Group November 20, 2009 PDF 35 43 15 5 2 Angus Reid Strategies November 20, 2009 HTML 33 47 10 7 3 Angus Reid Strategies September 2009 HTML 31 45 11 7 6 Angus Reid Strategies August 11, 2009 HTML 34 42 12 7 5 Election 2009 May 12, 2009 - 45.83 42.14 8.2 2.1 1.28 References
- ^ a b Constitution Act, s. 23.
- ^ "Campbell's stunning resignation leaves fate of party, HST up in the air". Globe and Mail. November 4, 2010. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/campbells-stunning-resignation-leaves-fate-of-party-hst-up-in-the-air/article1784300/. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ "Clark needs time as premier before renewing mandate". Vancouver Sun. March 1, 2011. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=1c291572-dc16-4d3a-b09e-697134d78e63. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ "Clark may be too election ready". Vancouver Sun. May 16, 2011. http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/Clark+election+ready/4788953/story.html. Retrieved May 18, 2011.
- ^ "Christy Clark rules out fall B.C. election". CBC News. August 31, 2011. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/31/bc-christy-clark-rules-out-election.html. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ "Political Parties". Elections BC. http://www.elections.bc.ca/index.php/can/polparties/. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
- ^ B.C.’s new premier Christy Clark puts job creation, families atop agenda
External links
- Elections BC
- Election Almanac - British Columbia Provincial Election 2013
- TrendLines Research Weekly chart tracking of the Federal & BC seat projection models
- Legislative Assembly Library Election Weblinks
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