2020 British Columbia general election

2020 British Columbia general election

The 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia won a majority government, making John Horgan the first leader in the history of the BC NDP to win a second consecutive term as Premier. The incoming Legislature marks the first time the NDP commanded an outright majority government in BC since the 1996 election.

About 2020 British Columbia general election in brief

Summary 2020 British Columbia general electionThe 2020 British Columbia general election was held on October 24, 2020, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 42nd parliament. The incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia won a majority government, making John Horgan the first leader in the history of the BC NDP to win a second consecutive term as Premier. The incoming Legislature marks the first time the NDP commanded an outright majority government in BC since the 1996 election, as well as the first province-wide popular vote win for the party since 1991. This election took place under first-past-the-post rules, as proportional representation had been rejected with 61. 3% voting against it in the 2018 referendum. Due to the significant increase in mail-in voting, the actual full results of the election were unlikely to be known for three or more weeks after voting day, with officials giving a tentative date of November 16 for the release of official results. The election occurred only three years and five months after the 2017 election and during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

The premier defended his decision to call an early election, claiming that the province needed the government to have a strong mandate and stability to deal with the challenges of the pandemic for the coming years. An Ipsos poll conducted for Global News and radio station CKNW found that 46 percent of people disapproved of the snap election, while 32 percent approved of the NDP and Horgan in the polls throughout the summer and fall of 2020. On September 21, the BC Nathan Cullen, a longtime party member and former member of Parliament for the federal NDP, was chosen to be the party’s candidate in the riding of Stikine, which is located in northwestern BC and was previously represented by Donald Donaldson. The party’s policy required that a vacancy for a male MLA not running for re-election must be filled by a person from an Indigenous group, such as a woman or an Indigenous person.