Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)

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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 status generally goes to the leader of the second largest party in the Legislative Assembly.

# Leader[1] Party Took office Left office
    1. James Alexander MacDonald Liberal 1903 1909
    2. Harlan Carey Brewster[2] Liberal 1911 1912
    - Harlan Carey Brewster Liberal 1916 1916
    3. William John Bowser Conservative 1916 1924
    - Robert Henry Pooley unofficial[3] Conservative 1924 1928
    4. Thomas Dufferin Pattullo Liberal 1929 1933
    5. Robert Connell CCF 1933 1936
    - Robert Connell[4] Social Reconstructive 1936 1937
    6. Frank Porter Patterson Conservative 1937 1938
    7. Royal Lethington Maitland Conservative 1938 1941
    8. Harold Winch CCF 1941 1952
    9. Herbert Anscomb[5] Progressive Conservative 1952 1952
    - Harold Winch CCF 1952 1953
    10. Arnold Webster CCF 1953 1956
    11. Robert Strachan[6] CCF 1956 1961
    - Robert Strachan NDP 1961 1969
    12. Thomas Berger NDP 1969 1969
    13. David Barrett NDP 1969 1972
    14. W.A.C. Bennett Social Credit 1972 1973
    15. William R. Bennett Social Credit 1973 1975
    -. David Barrett[7] NDP 1976 1984
    16. Robert Skelly NDP 1984 1987
    17. Michael Harcourt NDP 1987 1991
    18. Gordon Wilson Liberal 1991 1993
    19. Gordon Campbell Liberal 1993 2001
    20. Joy MacPhail[8] NDP 2001 2005
    21. Carole James NDP 2005
  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 S. King acted as House Leader in the interim.
  8. ^ Joy MacPhail was the unofficial Leader of the Opposition as the Speaker refused to recognize the NDP as the Official Opposition since the party lacked the number of seats required for official party status.
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