List of premiers of British Columbia

Amor de Cosmos, the 2nd Premier of British Columbia

The Premier of British Columbia is the First Minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The province was a British crown colony governed by the Governors of British Columbia^[1] before joining Canadian Confederation in 1871.^[2] Since then, it has had a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the Premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier is British Columbia's head of government, and the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The Premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of British Columbia and presides over that body.^[3]

Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.^[3]

Before 1903, British Columbia did not use a party system; instead, Premiers of British Columbia had no official party affiliation and were chosen by elected members of the Legislative Assembly from among themselves. Candidates ran as "Government", "Opposition", "Independent", or in formulations such as "Opposition independent", indicating their respective positions to the incumbent regime.

British Columbia has had 34 Premiers since joining Confederation, of which fifteen had no party affiliation, three were Conservatives, seven were Liberals, four were Socreds, and five were New Democrats. The first Premier was John Foster McCreight, who was inaugurated in 1871. Joseph Martin spent the shortest time in office at 108 days. At over twenty years, W. A. C. Bennett spent the longest time in office, and is the only Premier to serve in more than four Parliaments. The incumbent Premier is Gordon Campbell, who is serving his third term.

Premiers of British Columbia

      No party affiliation       British Columbia Conservative Party       British Columbia Liberal Party       British Columbia Social Credit Party       British Columbia New Democratic Party

Premier (party)			Period	Parliaments	Elections
	1st		John Foster McCreight (no party affiliation)	November 13, 1871 December 23, 1872	–	Designated November 13, 1871
					1st	Elected October to December 1871 Resigned December 23, 1872
	2nd		Amor De Cosmos (no party affiliation)	December 23, 1872 February 11, 1874		Designated December 23, 1872 Resigned February 11, 1874
	3rd		George Anthony Walkem (no party affiliation) (1st time of 2)	February 11, 1874 February 1, 1876		Designated February 11, 1874
					2nd	Re-elected during 1875 Resigned February 1, 1876
	4th		Andrew Charles Elliott (no party affiliation)	February 1, 1876 June 25, 1878		Designated February 1, 1876
	5th		George Anthony Walkem (no party affiliation) (2nd time of 2)	June 25, 1878 June 13, 1882	3rd	Elected during 1878
	6th		Robert Beaven (no party affiliation)	June 13, 1882 January 29, 1883	4th	Elected during 1882 Resigned January 29, 1883
	7th		William Smithe (no party affiliation)	January 29, 1883 March 29, 1887		Designated January 29, 1883
					5th	Re-elected during 1886 Died in office March 29, 1887
	8th		Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (no party affiliation)	March 29, 1887 August 1, 1889		Designated March 29, 1887 Died in office August 1, 1889
	9th		John Robson (no party affiliation)	August 1, 1889 June 29, 1892		Designated August 2, 1889
					6th	Re-elected during 1890 Died in office June 29, 1892
	10th		Theodore Davie (no party affiliation)	June 29, 1892 March 4, 1895		Designated July 2, 1892
					7th	Re-elected in 1894 Resigned March 4, 1895
	11th		John Herbert Turner (no party affiliation)	March 4, 1895 August 15, 1898		Designated March 4, 1895
	12th		Charles Augustus Semlin (no party affiliation)	August 15, 1898 February 28, 1900	8th	Elected during 1989 Resigned February 28, 1900
	13th		Joseph Martin (no party affiliation)	February 28, 1900 June 15, 1900		Designated February 28, 1900
	14th		James Dunsmuir (no party affiliation)	June 15, 1900 November 21, 1902	9th	Elected June 9, 1900 Resigned November 21, 1902
	15th		Edward Gawler Prior (no party affiliation)	November 21, 1902 June 1, 1903		Designated November 21, 1902 Resigned June 1, 1903
	16th		Richard McBride (Conservative)	June 1, 1903 December 15, 1915		Designated June 1, 1903
					10th	Re-elected October 3, 1903
					11th	Re-elected February 2, 1907
					12th	Re-elected November 25, 1909
					13th	Re-elected March 28, 1912 Resigned December 15, 1915
	17th		William John Bowser (Conservative)	December 15, 1915 November 23, 1916		Designated December 15, 1915
	18th		Harlan Carey Brewster (Liberal)	November 23, 1916 March 1, 1918	14th	Elected September 14, 1916 Died in office March 1, 1918
	19th		John Oliver (Liberal)	March 1, 1918 August 17, 1927		Designated March 6, 1918
					15th	Re-elected December 1, 1920
					16th	Re-elected June 20, 1924 to a minority Died in office August 17, 1927
	20th		John Duncan MacLean (Liberal)	August 17, 1927 August 21, 1928		Designated August 20, 1927 to a minority
	21st		Simon Fraser Tolmie (Conservative)	August 21, 1928 November 15, 1933	17th	Elected July 18, 1928
	22nd		Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (Liberal)	November 15, 1933 December 9, 1941	18th	Elected November 2, 1933
					19th	Re-elected June 1, 1937
					20th	Re-elected October 21, 1941 to a minority Resigned (protest) December 9, 1941
	23rd		John Hart (Liberal)[N 1]	December 9, 1941 December 29, 1947		Designated to a coalition December 9, 1941
					21st	Re-elected October 25, 1945 to a coalition Resigned December 29, 1947
	24th		Byron Ingemar Johnson (Liberal)[N 1]	December 29, 1947 August 1, 1952		Designated to a coalition December 29, 1947
					22nd	Re-elected June 15, 1949 to a coalition
	25th		William Andrew Cecil Bennett (Social Credit)	August 1, 1952 September 15, 1972	23rd	Elected June 12, 1952 to a minority
					24th	Re-elected June 9, 1953
					25th	Re-elected September 19, 1956
					26th	Re-elected September 12, 1960
					27th	Re-elected September 30, 1963
					28th	Re-elected September 12, 1966
					29th	Re-elected August 27, 1969
	26th		David Barrett (NDP)	September 15, 1972 December 22, 1975	30th	Elected August 30, 1972
	27th		William Richards Bennett (Social Credit)	December 22, 1975 August 6, 1986	31st	Elected December 11, 1975
					32nd	Re-elected May 10, 1979
					33rd	Re-elected May 5, 1983 Resigned August 6, 1986
	28th		William N.T.M. Vander Zalm (Social Credit)	August 6, 1986 April 2, 1991		Designated August 6, 1986
					34th	Re-elected October 22, 1986 Resigned April 2, 1991
	29th		Rita Margaret Johnston (Social Credit)	April 2, 1991 November 5, 1991		Designated April 2, 1991
	30th		Michael Franklin Harcourt (NDP)	November 5, 1991 February 22, 1996	35th	Elected October 17, 1991 Resigned February 22, 1996
	31st		Glen David Clark (NDP)	February 22, 1996 August 25, 1999		Designated February 22, 1996
					36th	Re-elected May 28, 1996 Resigned August 25, 1999
	32nd		Arthur Daniel Miller (NDP)	August 25, 1999 February 24, 2000		Designated August 29, 1999 Resigned February 24, 2000
	33rd		Ujjal Singh Dosanjh (NDP)	February 24, 2000 June 5, 2001		Designated February 24, 2000
	34th		Gordon Muir Campbell (Liberal)	June 5, 2001 Incumbent	37th	Elected May 16, 2001
					38th	Re-elected May 17, 2005
					39th	Re-elected May 12, 2009

Living former premiers

As of January 2010^[update], eight former premiers are alive, the oldest being Dave Barrett (1972–1975, born 1930). The most recent premier to die was W. A. C. Bennett (1952–1972), on February 23, 1979.

See also

• List of Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia
• List of British Columbia premiers by time in office

Notes

References

General

Specific

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