The British Columbia general election of 1983 was the 33rd provincial election for the province of British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

. The election was called on April 7, 1983. The election was held on May 5, 1983. The new legislature that resulted from this election met for the first time on June 23, 1983.

The governing Social Credit Party of British Columbia was re-elected with a majority government

Majority government

A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...

, defeating the opposition New Democratic Party of British Columbia

New Democratic Party of British Columbia

The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...

. The “Socreds” increased both their share of the popular vote almost half of all votes) and their number of seats in the legislature. No other parties other than the Socreds and the NDP won seats in the legislature.

Results

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1979 British Columbia general election, 1979 The British Columbia general election of 1979 was the 32nd general election in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. It was held to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The election was called on April 3, 1979...	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change	Social Credit British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing political party of British Columbia, Canada, for more than 30 years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election...	Bill Bennett	57	31	35	+12.9%	820,807	49.76%	+1.53%	New Democrats New Democratic Party of British Columbia The New Democratic Party of British Columbia is a social-democratic political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the official opposition to the governing British Columbia Liberal Party following the 2009 provincial election in British Columbia.The BC NDP is the provincial...	Dave Barrett Dave Barrett David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...	57	26	22	-15.4%	741,354	44.94%	-1.05%	Liberal British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party is the governing political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected for government in 1916, the party went into decline after 1952, with its rump caucus merging with the Social Credit Party for the 1975 election...	Shirley McLoughlin	52	-	-	-	44,442	2.69%	+2.22%	Progressive Conservative British Columbia Conservative Party The British Columbia Conservative Party is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. First elected as the government in 1903, the party went into decline after 1933...	Brian Westwood	12	-	-	-	19,131	1.16%	-3.90%	Western Canada Concept Western Canada Concept The Western Canada Concept was a Western Canadian political party founded in 1980 to promote the separation of the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest Territories from Canada in order to create a new nation.The party argued that Western...	Doug Christie Doug Christie (lawyer) Douglas Hewson "Doug" Christie, Jr. is a Canadian lawyer and far-right political activist based in Victoria, British Columbia.-Career:...	18	*	-	*	14,185	0.86%	*	Independent		18	-	-	-	5,225	0.32%	+0.24%	Green Green Party of British Columbia The Green Party of British Columbia is a political party in British Columbia, Canada. It is led by former Esquimalt municipal councillor, university professor and businessperson Jane Sterk, she was elected by the party in 2007. Penticton realtor and columnist Julius Bloomfield serves as the deputy...	Adriane Carr Adriane Carr Adriane Carr is a Canadian academic, activist and politician with the Green Party in British Columbia and Canada. She is also a Councillor-elect on Vancouver City Council. She was a founding member and the Green Party of British Columbia's first leader from 1983 to 1985, whereafter the party...	4	*	-	*	3,078	0.19%	*	Communist Communist Party of British Columbia The Communist Party of British Columbia is the British Columbia branch of the Communist Party of Canada. Its leader is Sam Hammond.From the 1945 British Columbia election to the 1956 election, it was known as the Labour Progressive Party....		4	-	-	-	837	0.05%	-0.03%	Western National		2	*	-	*	474	0.03%	*
Total			224	57	57	-	1,649,533	100%
Source: Elections BC

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

See also

• List of British Columbia political parties