30th Parliament of British Columbia explained

The 30th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from 1972 to 1975. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in August 1972.^[1] The New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Dave Barrett formed the government.^[2] The Social Credit Party led by W. A. C. Bennett formed the official opposition. Bill Bennett was elected Social Credit party leader in November 1973 after his father resigned his seat in the assembly in June 1973.^[3]

Gordon Dowding served as speaker for the assembly.^[4]

Members of the 30th General Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1972:^[1]

	Member	Electoral district	Party	Robert Evans Skelly	Alberni	NDP	Frank Arthur Calder	Atlin	NDP	Francis Xavier Richter	Boundary-Similkameen	Social Credit	Gordon Dowding	Burnaby-Edmonds	NDP	Eileen Dailly	Burnaby North	NDP	James Gibson Lorimer	Burnaby-Willingdon	NDP	Alexander Vaughan Fraser	Cariboo	Social Credit	Harvey Schroeder	Chilliwack	Social Credit	James Roland Chabot	Columbia River	Social Credit	Karen Elizabeth Sanford	Comox	NDP	David Barrett	Coquitlam	NDP	Robert Martin Strachan	Cowichan-Malahat	NDP	Carl Liden	Delta	NDP	Peter Rolston	Dewdney	NDP	James Henry Gorst	Esquimalt	NDP	Allan Alfred Nunweiler	Fort George	NDP	Gerald Hamilton Anderson	Kamloops	NDP	Leo Thomas Nimsick	Kootenay	NDP	Robert Howard McClelland	Langley	Social Credit	Don Lockstead	Mackenzie	NDP	David Daniel Stupich	Nanaimo	NDP	Lorne Nicolson	Nelson-Creston	NDP	Dennis Geoffrey Cocke	New Westminster	NDP	Patricia Jordan	North Okanagan	Social Credit	Dean Edward Smith	North Peace River	Social Credit	David Maurice Brousson	North Vancouver-Capilano	Liberal	Colin Gabelmann	North Vancouver-Seymour	NDP	George Scott Wallace	Oak Bay	Progressive Conservative	Douglas Tynwald Kelly	Omineca	NDP	Graham Lea	Prince Rupert	NDP	William Stewart King	Revelstoke-Slocan	NDP	Harold Leslie Steves	Richmond	NDP	Christopher D'Arcy	Rossland-Trail	NDP	Hugh Austin Curtis	Saanich and the Islands	Progressive Conservative	Donald Emerson Lewis	Shuswap	NDP	Hartley Douglas Dent	Skeena	NDP	William Andrew Cecil Bennett	South Okanagan	Social Credit	Donald McGray Phillips	South Peace River	Social Credit	Ernest Hall	Surrey	NDP	Rosemary Brown	Vancouver-Burrard	NDP	Norman Levi	Emery Oakland Barnes	Vancouver Centre	NDP	Gary Lauk	Alexander Barrett MacDonald	Vancouver East	NDP	Robert Arthur Williams	Roy Thomas Cummings	Vancouver-Little Mountain	NDP	Phyllis Florence Young	Garde Basil Gardom	Vancouver-Point Grey	Liberal	Patrick Lucey McGeer	Jack A. Radford	Vancouver South	NDP	Daisy Webster	David Alexander Anderson	Victoria	Liberal	Newell Orrin Ruston Morrison	Social Credit	Louis Allan Williams	West Vancouver-Howe Sound	Liberal	William Leonard Hartley	Yale-Lillooet	NDP

Notes:

1. Web site: Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986. Elections BC . 2020-08-31.
2. Web site: Premiers of British Columbia 1871- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.
3. Web site: Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903- . https://web.archive.org/web/20110220035338/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/reference/leaders_of_the_opposition.pdf . dead . 2011-02-20 . BC Legislature . 2011-07-20 .
4. Web site: Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.

Party standings

Affiliation		Members	38	10	5	2
Total		55
Government Majority		21

By-elections

By-elections were held to replace members for various reasons:^[1]

Electoral district	Member elected	Party	Election date	Reason
South Okanagan	William Richards Bennett	Social Credit	September 7, 1973	W.A.C. Bennett resigned June 5, 1973; retired from politics
North Vancouver-Capilano	Gordon Fulerton Gibson	Liberal	February 5, 1974	D.M. Brousson resigned October 23, 1973, to look after business interests

Notes:

1. Web site: Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986. Elections BC . 2020-08-31.
2. Web site: Premiers of British Columbia 1871- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.
3. Web site: Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903- . https://web.archive.org/web/20110220035338/http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/reference/leaders_of_the_opposition.pdf . dead . 2011-02-20 . BC Legislature . 2011-07-20 .
4. Web site: Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872- . BC Legislature . 2011-09-23.

Other changes

• Hugh Austin Curtis joins Social Credit October 25, 1974.^[5]
• Patrick McGeer and Louis Allan Williams become Independents on May 9, 1975.^[5] They are followed by Garde Gardom on May 20.^[5] On September 30 all three join Social Credit.^[6]
• Cowichan-Malahat (res. Robert Strachan October 5, 1975)^[5]