2009 British Columbia general election

2009 British Columbia general election

← 2005 May 12, 2009 2013 →
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85 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 43 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	50.99%[1] 7.2 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Gordon Campbell Carole James Jane Sterk Party Liberal New Democratic Green Leader since September 11, 1993 November 23, 2003 October 21, 2007 Leader's seat Vancouver-Point Grey Victoria-Beacon Hill Ran in Esquimalt-Royal Roads (Lost) Last election 46 seats 33 seats 0 seats Seats won 49 35 0 Seat change 3 2 0 Popular vote 751,661 691,564 134,570 Percentage 45.82% 42.15% 8.21% Swing 0.03% 0.62% 0.97%
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election Gordon Campbell Liberal Premier after election Gordon Campbell Liberal

The 2009 British Columbia general election was held on May 12, 2009, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The British Columbia Liberal Party (BC Liberals) formed the government of the province prior to this general election under the leadership of Premier Gordon Campbell. The British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP) under the leadership of Carole James was the Official Opposition.

The election was the first contested on a new electoral map completed in 2008, with the total number of constituencies increased from 79 in the previous legislature to 85. Under amendments to the BC Constitution Act passed in 2001, BC elections are now held on fixed dates which are the second Tuesday in May every four years.

A second referendum on electoral reform was held in conjunction with the election.

The election did not produce a significant change in the province's political landscape. The BC Liberals, who had been in power since the 2001 provincial election, were returned to power, constituting the first time in 23 years a party had won three elections in a row in British Columbia. As a result of the seat redistribution, both the Liberals and the New Democrats gained seats, and both parties increased their popular vote by less than one per cent over 2005. Each party lost two incumbent MLAs: the BC NDP's Jenn McGinn and Charlie Wyse, and the Liberals' John Nuraney and Wally Oppal were defeated. All other seat changes in the election resulted from the new seats or from retiring incumbents.

Voter turnout was 50.99% of eligible voters (1,651,567 registered voters).