Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)
Leader of the Opposition of British Columbia | |
---|---|
Inaugural holder | James Alexander MacDonald |
The leader of the Opposition (French: chef de l'Opposition) in British Columbia is the member of the Legislative Assembly (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.
No.[a] | Portrait | Name[1] Electoral district (Birth–Death) |
Term of office | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | James Alexander MacDonald MLA for Rossland City (1858–1939) |
1903–1909 | Liberal
| ||
2 | John Oliver[b] (1856–1927) |
1909–1910 | Liberal
| ||
3 | James Hurst Hawthornthwaite[c] MLA for Nanaimo City (1863–1926) |
1910 | Socialist | ||
4 | Harlan Carey Brewster[c] MLA for Alberni (1870–1918) |
1911–1912 | Liberal
| ||
5 | Parker Williams[d] MLA for Newcastle (1872–1958) |
1913–1915 | Socialist | ||
(4) | Harlan Carey Brewster[e] MLA for Victoria City (1870–1918) |
1916 | Liberal
| ||
6 | William John Bowser MLA for Vancouver City (1867–1933) |
1917–1923 | Conservative
| ||
7 | Robert Henry Pooley[f] MLA for Esquimalt (1878–1954) |
1924–1928 | Conservative
| ||
8 | Duff Pattullo MLA for Prince Rupert (1873–1956) |
1929–1933 | Liberal
| ||
9 | Robert Connell[g] MLA for Victoria City (1871–1957) |
1933–1937 | Co-operative Commonwealth | ||
Social Reconstructive | |||||
10 | Frank Porter Patterson MLA for Dewdney (1876–1938) |
1937–1938 | Conservative
| ||
11 | Royal Maitland MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey (1889–1946) |
1938–1940 | Conservative
| ||
12 | Harold Winch MLA for Vancouver East (1907–1993) |
1941–1951 | Co-operative Commonwealth | ||
13 | Herbert Anscomb[h] MLA for Oak Bay (1892–1972) |
1952 | Progressive Conservative
| ||
(12) | Harold Winch MLA for Vancouver East (1907–1993) |
1953 | Co-operative Commonwealth | ||
14 | Arnold Webster MLA for Vancouver East (1899–1979) |
1953–1956 | Co-operative Commonwealth | ||
15 | Robert Strachan[i] MLA for Cowichan-Newcastle (until 1966) MLA for Cowichan-Malahat (from 1966) (1913–1981) |
1957–1969 | Co-operative Commonwealth | ||
New Democratic | |||||
16 | Thomas R. Berger[b] (1933–2021) |
1969–1970 | New Democratic | ||
17 | Dave Barrett MLA for Coquitlam (1930–2018) |
1970–1972 | New Democratic | ||
18 | W. A. C. Bennett MLA for South Okanagan (1900–1979) |
1972–1973 | Social Credit | ||
19 | Frank Richter Jr. MLA for Boundary-Similkameen (1910–1977) |
1973 | Social Credit | ||
20 | Bill Bennett MLA for South Okanagan (1932–2015) |
1974–1975 | Social Credit | ||
21 | William King[j] MLA for Revelstoke-Slocan (1930–2020) |
1976 | New Democratic | ||
(17) | Dave Barrett MLA for Vancouver East (1930–2018) |
1976–1984 | New Democratic | ||
22 | Bob Skelly MLA for Alberni (1943–2022) |
1984–1987 | New Democratic | ||
23 | Mike Harcourt MLA for Vancouver Centre (born 1943) |
1987–1991 | New Democratic | ||
24 | Gordon Wilson MLA for Powell River-Sunshine Coast (born 1949) |
1991–1993 | Liberal
| ||
25 | Fred Gingell MLA for Delta South (1930–1999) |
1993–1994 | Liberal
| ||
26 | Gordon Campbell MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena (until 1996) MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey (from 1996) (born 1948) |
1994–2001 | Liberal
| ||
27 | Joy MacPhail[k] MLA for Vancouver-Hastings (born 1952) |
2001–2005 | New Democratic | ||
28 | Carole James MLA for Victoria-Beacon Hill (born 1957) |
2005–2011 | New Democratic | ||
29 | Dawn Black MLA for New Westminster (born 1943) |
2011 | New Democratic | ||
30 | Vancouver-Kingsway (born 1964) |
2011–2014 | New Democratic | ||
31 | Juan de Fuca (born 1959) |
2014–2017 | New Democratic | ||
32 | Christy Clark MLA for Kelowna West (born 1965) |
2017 | Liberal
| ||
33 | Rich Coleman MLA for Langley East (born 1956) |
2017–2018 | Liberal
| ||
34 | Andrew Wilkinson MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena (born 1958) |
2018–2020 | Liberal
| ||
35 | Shirley Bond MLA for Prince George-Valemount (born 1956 or 1957) |
2020–2022 | Liberal
| ||
36 | Kevin Falcon MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena (born 1963) |
2022–present | Liberal
| ||
BC United |
Notes
- ^ Ordinal number based on first term served by each unique person. Letter suffixes indicate first and second terms of those serving more than once.
- ^ a b Did not sit in the Legislature as leader of the Official Opposition
- ^ a b The 1909 election saw four opposition members, two Liberals and two Socialists, elected. As seats were assigned by alphabetical order, Hawthornthwaite physically occupied the seat typical of the Opposition leader. Hawthornthwaite initially rejected the idea of being leader, but was later reported to have "assumed the functions of Opposition leader". However, by the next session, Brewster was being referred to as Opposition leader.[2]
- ^ Declined to be named Opposition leader, but was referred to as such by the media and received the appropriate salary.[2]
- ^ Became Opposition leader mid-legislature after by-election victories.[2]
- ^ After party leader William John Bowser lost his seat in the 1924 election, house leader Robert Henry Pooley became leader of the Opposition. 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.
- ^ 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".
- 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.
- New Democratic Party.
- William Stewart Kingacted as leader of the Opposition in the house in the interim. Barrett continued as leader of the party during this period.
- ^ Although Gordon 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 the party's status as the Official Opposition.
References
- ^ "Leaders of the Official Opposition of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ a b c "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903-" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 February 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2020.