1907 British Columbia general election

The British Columbia general election of 1907 was the eleventh general election for the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election called on December 24, 1906, and held on February 2, 1907. The new legislature met for the first time on March 7, 1907.

The governing Conservative party won a second term in government, with almost half the popular vote, and a majority of the seats in the legislature, increasing its number of seats by 4 to 26.

The Liberal Party lost 4 seats in the legislature, despite winning about the same share of the popular vote that it had in the 1903 election.

The Socialist Party won one additional seat to bring its total to three.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
				1903	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Conservative 1	Richard McBride	42	22	26	+18.2%	30,781	48.70%	+2.27%
	Liberal	James Alexander MacDonald	40	17	13	-23.5%	23,481	37.15%	-0.63%
	Socialist		20	2	3	+50.0%	5,603	8.87%	+0.91%
	Canadian Labour 2		6	1	-	-100%	2,495	3.95%	-3.41%
	Independent Labour3		2	*	-	*	487	0.77%	-
	Independent Socialist		1	*	-	*	211	0.33%	*
	Independent		1	*	-	*	147	0.23%	*
Total			112	42	42	-	63,205	100%
Sources: Elections BC

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ One Conservative candidate, R. McBride, who contested and was elected in both Dewdney and Victoria City, is counted twice.

² Organized in 1906. Not the same as the Canadian Labour Party of B.C. which contested the 1924 election. Sometimes referred to as "Independent Labour Party" by the newspapers which creates some confusion with the situation in Nanaimo City and Newcastle.

³ Although the candidates in Nanaimo City and Newcastle called themselves "Independent Labour" candidates, the Conservative press described them as "Liberal-Labour" candidates. They did have Liberal support in both cases and no Liberals were nominated for either District. They were also repudiated by the Victoria branch of the Canadian Labour Party of BC.

Results by riding

Results of British Columbia general election, 1907
Government				Opposition
	Member	Riding & party		Riding & party		Member
	Henry Esson Young	Atlin Conservative			Alberni Liberal	Harlan Carey Brewster
	Robert Grant	Comox Conservative			Cariboo Liberal	Harry Jones
	Richard McBride 1 Premier	Dewdney Conservative			Cariboo Liberal	John MacKay Yorston
	Henry George Parson	Columbia Conservative			Chilliwhack Liberal	Charles William Munro
	William Henry Hayward	Cowichan Conservative			Esquimalt Liberal	John Jardine
	William Roderick Ross	Fernie Conservative			Lillooet Liberal	Mark Robert Eagleson
	Albert Edward McPhillips	The Islands Conservative			Nelson City Liberal	George Arthur Benjamin Hall
	Frederick John Fulton	Kamloops Conservative			Cranbrook Liberal	James Horace King
	Neil Franklin MacKay	Kaslo Conservative			Delta Liberal	John Oliver
	Thomas Gifford	New Westminster City Conservative			Greenwood Liberal	George Ratcliffe Naden
	Price Ellison	Okanagan Conservative			The Islands Liberal	Thomas Wilson Paterson
	Thomas Taylor	Revelstoke Conservative			Skeena Liberal	William Thomas Kergin
	Francis Lovett Carter-Cotton	Richmond Conservative			Yale Liberal	Stuart Alexander Henderson
	David McEwen Eberts	Saanich Conservative			Grand Forks Socialist	John McInnis
	Lytton Wilmot Shatford	Similkameen Conservative			Nanaimo City Socialist	James Hurst Hawthornthwaite
	William Hunter	Slocan Conservative			Newcastle Socialist	Parker Williams
	Charles William John Bowser	Vancouver City Conservative
	James Ford Garden
	Alexander Henry Boswell MacGowan
	George Albert McGuire
	Robert Garnett Tatlow
	Henry Frederick William Behnsen	Victoria City Conservative
	Frederick Davey
	Richard McBride 1 Premier
	Henry Broughton Thomson
	James Hargrave Schofield	Ymir Conservative
	1 Elected simultaneously in Dewdney and Victoria City.
Source: Elections BC

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties
• Richard McBride

Further reading & references

• In the Sea of Sterile Mountains: The Chinese in British Columbia, Joseph Morton, J.J. Douglas, Vancouver (1974). Despite its title, a fairly thorough account of the politicians and electoral politics in early BC.