Leader of the Opposition of British Columbia
Incumbent
Kevin Falcon
since May 16, 2022
Inaugural holderJames 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 Adrian Dix
MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway
(born 1964) 		2011–2014 New Democratic
31 John Horgan
MLA for 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

  1. ^ Ordinal number based on first term served by each unique person. Letter suffixes indicate first and second terms of those serving more than once.
  2. ^ a b Did not sit in the Legislature as leader of the Official Opposition
  3. ^ 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]
  4. ^ Declined to be named Opposition leader, but was referred to as such by the media and received the appropriate salary.[2]
  5. ^ Became Opposition leader mid-legislature after by-election victories.[2]
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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".
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ The CCF became the NDP in 1961 as a result of the creation of the federal New Democratic Party.
  10. ^ Barrett lost his seat in the December 1975 general election and re-entered the legislature through a June 1976 by-election. William Stewart King acted as leader of the Opposition in the house in the interim. Barrett continued as leader of the party during this period.
  11. ^ 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

  1. ^ "Leaders of the Official Opposition of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
  2. ^ 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.
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