This article is about the defunct British Columbia provincial electoral district named South Okanagan.
For towns in and other information on the southern Okanagan region, see
Okanagan.
For other electoral districts, see Okanagan (electoral districts).
South Okanagan was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia beginning with the election of 1916. Following the 1975 election boundary revisions accompanied the riding's renaming to Okanagan South. The riding was originally part of the Yale riding until 1890, and when first that riding was broken up the Okanagan was in Yale-East (1894–1900), and then in Okanagan (1903–1912). Both South Okanagan and North Okanagan were created in advance of the 1916 election.
Notable MLAs
The most famous MLA from this riding was indubitably W.A.C. Bennett, who won the seat originally as a Conservative in 1941, sat with the Coalition in '45 and '49, then joined the Social Credit League of British Columbia in the preferential-ballot melee of '52 and '53 which led to his securing majority rule for his long tenure as Premier from 1953 to 1972. The second-most famous MLA from this riding was his son, William Richards Bennett, Premier from 1975 election to 1986 election.
Political geography
Election results
Note: Winners of each election are in bold.
18th British Columbia election, 1933 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Liberal |
Joseph Allen Harris |
1,636 |
36.66% |
|
Independent Conservative | James William Jones1 | 1,445 | 32.38% |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Owen Lewis Jones |
1,382 |
30.97% |
Total valid votes |
4,463 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
0 |
1 Endorsed by the Independent CCF. |
19th British Columbia election, 1937 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Liberal |
Cecil Robert Bull |
2,388 |
45.02% |
|
unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Silvanus Noble Dixon |
815 |
15.37% |
|
unknown |
|
Conservative |
Thomas Grantham Norris |
2,101 |
39.61% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
5,304 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
57 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
20th British Columbia election, 1941 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Conservative |
William Andrew Cecil Bennett 2 |
2,009 |
37.69% |
|
unknown |
|
Liberal |
Cecil Robert Bull |
1,769 |
33.19% |
|
unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Felicia Snowsell |
1,552 |
29.12% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
5,330 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
53 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
2 Electoral debut. Later 25th Premier of British Columbia, 1952–1972, and father of 27th Premier, William Richards Bennett (both Social Credit. |
21st British Columbia election, 1945 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Coalition | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 3,706 | 64.25% | – | unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Gladys Adelia Webster |
2,062 |
35.75% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
5,768 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
140 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
22nd British Columbia election, 1949 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Coalition | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 6,555 | 58.40% | – | unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Thomas Wilkinson |
4,669 |
41.60% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
11,224 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
171 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
23rd British Columbia election, 19523 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes 1st count |
% |
Votes final count |
% |
±% |
|
Social Credit League | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 6,082 | 51.24% | 6,082 | 51.24% |
|
Liberal |
Cecil Robert Bull |
1,763 |
14.85% |
1,763 |
14.85% |
|
unknown |
|
Progressive Conservative |
William Bower Hughes-Games |
1,371 |
11.55% |
1,371 |
11.55% |
|
unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Thomas Wilkinson |
2,654 |
22.36% |
2,654 |
22.36% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
11,870 |
100.00% |
11,870 |
% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
543 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
3 Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; one count only needed in this riding. |
24th British Columbia election, 1953 4 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes 1st count |
% |
Votes final count |
% |
±% |
|
Social Credit | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 6,756 | 58.51% | 6,756 | 58.51% |
|
Progressive Conservative |
Katharine Frances Huntington Weddell |
403 |
3.49% |
403 |
3.49% |
|
unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Thomas Wilkinson |
2,427 |
21.02% |
2,427 |
21.02% |
|
unknown |
|
Liberal |
John Victor Hyde Wilson |
1,961 |
16.98% |
1,961 |
16.98 % |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
11,547 |
100.00% |
11,547 |
% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
477 |
|
|
|
|
Total Registered Voters |
|
|
|
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
|
|
4 Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 2) not shown. |
25th British Columbia election, 1956 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Social Credit | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 7,694 | 69.70% | – | unknown |
|
Liberal |
Cecil Robert Bull |
1,230 |
11.14% |
|
unknown |
|
Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. |
Walter Ratzlaff |
1,663 |
15.07% |
|
unknown |
|
Liberal |
Brian Coryell Weddell |
451 |
4.09% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
11,038 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
186 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
28th British Columbia election, 1966 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Social Credit | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 8,747 | 73.15% | – | unknown |
|
Liberal |
Leo Joseph Matte |
1,274 |
10.65% |
|
unknown |
|
New Democrat |
Thomas Rose |
1,936 |
16.19% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
11,957 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
135 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
29th British Columbia election, 1969 |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
Expenditures |
|
Social Credit | William Andrew Cecil Bennett | 13,074 | 72.20% | – | unknown |
|
Liberal |
Robert Dickson Knox |
1,957 |
10.81% |
|
unknown |
|
New Democrat |
Eva A. Pfeifer |
3,078 |
17.00% |
|
unknown |
Total valid votes |
18,109 |
100.00% |
|
Total rejected ballots |
205 |
|
|
Turnout |
% |
|
|
Redistribution of the riding following the 1975 election saw adjustments of its boundaries and a new name, Okanagan South, for the 1979 election.
Sources
Elections BC website - historical election data