| Election Name: | 1975 British Columbia general election |
| Country: | British Columbia |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Party Colour: | no |
| Party Name: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1972 British Columbia general election |
| Previous Year: | 1972 |
| Next Election: | 1979 British Columbia general election |
| Next Year: | 1979 |
| Outgoing Members: | 30th Parliament of British Columbia |
| Elected Members: | 31st Parliament of British Columbia |
| Seats For Election: | 55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 28 seats were needed for a majority |
| Election Date: | December 11, 1975 |
| Leader1: | Bill Bennett |
| Leader Since1: | 1973 |
| Leaders Seat1: | South Okanagan |
| Last Election1: | 10 seats, |
| Seats1: | 35 |
| Seat Change1: | 25 |
| Popular Vote1: | 635,482 |
| Percentage1: | 49.25% |
| Swing1: | 18.09 |
| Leader2: | Dave Barrett |
| Leader Since2: | 1969 |
| Leaders Seat2: | Coquitlam (lost re-election) |
| Last Election2: | 38 seats, |
| Seats2: | 18 |
| Seat Change2: | 20 |
| Popular Vote2: | 505,396 |
| Percentage2: | 39.16% |
| Swing2: | 0.43 |
| Image4: | BCLP |
| Leader4: | Gordon Gibson |
| Leader Since4: | 1975 |
| Leaders Seat4: | North Vancouver-Capilano |
| Last Election4: | 5 seats, |
| Seats4: | 1 |
| Seat Change4: | 4 |
| Popular Vote4: | 93,397 |
| Percentage4: | 7.24% |
| Swing4: | 9.16 |
| Image5: | PC |
| Leader5: | George Scott Wallace |
| Leader Since5: | 1973 |
| Leaders Seat5: | Oak Bay |
| Last Election5: | 2 seats, |
| Seats5: | 1 |
| Seat Change5: | 1 |
| Popular Vote5: | 49,796 |
| Percentage5: | 3.86% |
| Swing5: | 8.81 |
| Premier | |
| Before Election: | Dave Barrett |
| Posttitle: | Premier after election |
| After Election: | Bill Bennett |
The 1975 British Columbia general election was the 31st 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 November 3, 1975, and held on December 11, 1975. The new legislature met for the first time on March 17, 1976.
The governing New Democratic Party of Dave Barrett was defeated after three years in government. Bill Bennett, son of long-time Social Credit Party leader and BC premier, W.A.C. Bennett, led Social Credit back to power, winning close to half of the popular vote, and a solid majority in the legislature.
Voters abandoned the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties as the centre and right-wing vote coalesced around Social Credit. The defeated social democratic NDP suffered only a marginal decrease in its vote share. However, NDP support outside Vancouver tailed off, resulting in a 20-seat loss. Barrett was one of the casualties; he was narrowly defeated by a Socred challenger (though he returned to the legislature a few months later in a by-election).
| Party | Party leader |
| Seats | Popular vote | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Elected | % Change | % | % Change | Bill Bennett | 55 | 10 | 35 | +250% | 635,482 | 49.25% | +18.09% | New Democrats | 55 | 38 | 18 | -52.6% | 505,396 | 39.16% | align="right" | -0.43% | Gordon Gibson | 49 | 5 | 1 | -80.0% | 93,379 | 7.24% | -9.16% | Progressive Conservative | George Scott Wallace | 29 | 2 | 1 | -50.0% | 49,796 | 3.86% | -8.81% | Independent | 12 | align="right" | - | align="right" | - | - | 4,688 | 0.36% | +0.26% | 13 | align="right" | - | align="right" | - | - | 1,441 | 0.11% | +0.03% | 4 | align="right" | - | 141 | 0.01% | Revolutionary Marxist Group | 3 | align="right" | - | 94 | 0.01% | League for Socialist Action | 1 | align="right" | - | 34 | x | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 221 | 55 | 55 | - | 1,290,451 | 100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election. x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote