British Columbia general election, 1903

The British Columbia general election of 1903 was the tenth general election for 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 5, 1903, and held on October 3, 1903. The new legislature met for the first time on November 26, 1903.

This was the first election in British Columbia that was fought by political parties. Prior to this election, British Columbia politics were non-partisan.

The first election was dominated by the Conservative and Liberal parties, which were affiliated with existing parties at the federal level. See Conservative Party of Canada and Liberal Party of Canada.

The Conservative Party won over 46.4% of the popular vote and a slim majority of the seats in the legislature.

Results by party

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

¹ The Conservative Party and the Liberal Party each elected one candidate by acclamation.

² There was no provincial "Labour Party" as such. Each of the three Electoral Districts with a Labour candidate (Nanaimo, Slocan, and Vancouver City) had a local, autonomous Labour Party. As well, some Liberal candidates appear to have run on a "Liberal-Labour" platform (Atlin, Victoria and Ymir).

Results by riding

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties

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.