Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)

The Leader of the Opposition (French: Chef de l'Opposition) in British Columbia is the MLA in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia who leads the political party recognized as the Official Opposition. This position generally goes to the leader of the largest party in the Legislative Assembly that is not in government.

#Leader[1]PartyTook OfficeLeft Office
    1.James Alexander MacDonaldLiberal19031909
    2.Harlan Carey Brewster[2]Liberal19111912
    –Harlan Carey BrewsterLiberal19161916
    3.William John BowserConservative19161924
    –Robert Henry Pooley unofficial[3]Conservative19241928
    4.Thomas Dufferin PattulloLiberal19291933
    5.Robert ConnellCCF19331936
 ...Robert Connell[4]Social Reconstructive19361937
    6.Frank Porter PattersonConservative19371938
    7.Royal Lethington MaitlandConservative19381941
    8.Harold WinchCCF19411952
    9.Herbert Anscomb[5]Progressive Conservative19521952
    –Harold WinchCCF19521953
    10.Arnold WebsterCCF19531956
    11.Robert Strachan[6]CCF19561961
    –Robert StrachanNDP19611969
    12.Thomas BergerNDP19691969
    13.Dave BarrettNDP19691972
 14.W.A.C. BennettSocial Credit19721973
 15.William R. BennettSocial Credit19731975
    16.William Stewart KingNDP19751976
    –Dave Barrett[7]NDP19761984
    17.Robert SkellyNDP19841987
    18.Michael HarcourtNDP19871991
    19.Gordon WilsonLiberal19911993
    20.Fred GingellLiberal19931994
    21.Gordon CampbellLiberal19942001
    22.Joy MacPhail[8]NDP20012005
    23.Carole JamesNDP20052011
    24.Dawn BlackNDP20112011
    25.Adrian DixNDP20112014
    26.John HorganNDP20142017
    27.Christy ClarkLiberal20172017
    28.Rich ColemanLiberal20172018
    29.Andrew WilkinsonLiberal 2018present

References

  1. ↑ Legislative Library of British Columbia, Party Leaders in British Columbia 1900-, 2000, updated 2005
  2. ↑ Lost his seat in the 1912 general election that wiped out the Liberals. No Opposition leader until Brewster won a by-election in 1916.
  3. ↑ Pooley was the Conservative Party's House Leader due to the defeat of William John Bowser. In 1926 Simon Fraser Tolmie was elected Conservative leader but he did not seek a seat in the legislature until the 1928 provincial election which his party won
  4. ↑ Connell was exeplled from the CCF in 1936 for opposing party policy. He and three other CCF MLAs formed the "Social Reconstructive" party. With a total of 4 MLAs compared to 3 remaining in the CCF, Connell's new party was the second largest in the legislature allowing him to retain the title of Leader of the Official Opposition
  5. ↑ Anscomb's Conservatives had been part of a coalition government with the Liberals until late 1951 when the Liberals decided to terminate the arrangement and Premier John Hart dropped his Conservative ministers from Cabinet. The Tories moved to the opposition benches and displaced the CCF to form the Official Opposition from February 1952 until the June 1952 provincial election
  6. ↑ The CCF became the NDP in 1961 as a result of the creation of the federal New Democratic Party
  7. ↑ Barrett lost his seat in the December 1975 general election and re-entered the legislature through a June 1976 by-election. William Stewart King acted as Leader of the Opposition in the house in the interim. Barrett continued as leader of the party during this period
  8. ↑ Although Premier Campbell refused to recognize the NDP as an official party since it lacked the number of seats required for official party status, the Speaker recognized MacPhail as Opposition Leader and ensured the NDP received the resources and funding due to it as an opposition.
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