W. A. C. Bennett - Social Credit Leader and Premier

Social Credit Leader and Premier

Commencing with the 1952 provincial election, the province used an alternative vote system that had been designed to enable the Conservative and Liberal parties to keep the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation out of power. Unexpectedly, this enabled Social Credit to win the largest number of seats, arguably because of second-preference ballots from CCF voters. With only 19 seats out of a total of 48, Social Credit fell short of holding a majority. The Socreds succeeded in convincing an Independent Labour Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) to support them and so were able to form a minority government. The party had no leader, however, and only three members had experience as an MLA. In a vote of the newly elected caucus, Bennett was voted into the position of party leader and premier-designate on July 15, 1952. Of the 19 votes cast, Bennett received 10, another received 2, and two more (including Philip Gaglardi) one vote each.

On August 1, he was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, an office he went on to hold for 20 years, until 1972. Bennett engineered the defeat of his initial minority government with a school funding proposal, and forced an election in 1953. Social Credit was re-elected with a clear majority. Preferential voting was not used in BC again as Bennett, who had profited from the system, abandoned it following his 1953 victory.

The Social Credit Party won seven consecutive elections during W.A.C. Bennett's involvement and leadership: 1952, 1953, 1956, 1960, 1963, 1966, and 1969. The only election Bennett lost as a member of Social Credit was in 1972, the last election in which he was a candidate.