24th Parliament of British Columbia

The 24th Legislative Assembly of British Columbia sat from September 1953 to 1956. The members were elected in the British Columbia general election held in June 1953.^[1] The Social Credit Party led by W. A. C. Bennett formed the government.^[2] The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation led by Arnold Webster formed the official opposition.^[3]

Thomas James Irwin served as speaker for the assembly.^[4]

Members of the 24th General Assembly

The following members were elected to the assembly in 1953:^[1]

Member	Electoral district	Party	First elected / previously elected
Stanley John Squire	Alberni	CCF	1952
Frank Arthur Calder	Atlin	CCF	1949
Ernest Edward Winch	Burnaby	CCF	1933
William Ralph Talbot Chetwynd	Cariboo	Social Credit	1952
William Kenneth Kiernan	Chilliwack	Social Credit	1952
Richard Orr Newton	Columbia	Social Credit	1952, 1953
William Campbell Moore	Comox	CCF	1952
Robert Martin Strachan	Cowichan-Newcastle	CCF	1952
Leo Thomas Nimsick	Cranbrook	CCF	1949
Thomas Irwin	Delta	Social Credit	1952
Lyle Wicks	Dewdney	Social Credit	1952
Herbert Joseph Bruch	Esquimalt	Social Credit	1953
Thomas Aubert Uphill	Fernie	Labour	1920
Ray Gillis Williston	Fort George	Social Credit	1953
Rupert Williams Haggen	Grand Forks-Greenwood	CCF	1949
Philip Arthur Gaglardi	Kamloops	Social Credit	1952
Randolph Harding	Kaslo-Slocan	CCF	1945
James Gordon Gibson	Lillooet	Liberal	1953
Donald Frederick Robinson	Lillooet	Social Credit	1955
Anthony John Gargrave	Mackenzie	CCF	1952
Lorenzo (Larry) Giovando	Nanaimo and the Islands	Progressive Conservative	1952
Lorenzo (Larry) Giovando	Nanaimo and the Islands	Independent	1952
Wesley Drewett Black	Nelson-Creston	Social Credit	1952
John McRae (Rae) Eddie	New Westminster	CCF	1952
Lorne Shantz	North Okanagan	Social Credit	1952
George Henry Tomlinson, Jr.	North Vancouver	Social Credit	1953
Philip Archibald Gibbs	Oak Bay	Liberal	1952
Cyril Morley Shelford	Omineca	Social Credit	1952
Charles William Parker	Peace River	Social Credit	1952
Arthur Bruce Brown	Prince Rupert	Liberal	1953
Vincent Segur	Revelstoke	CCF	1943, 1952
Robert Edward Sommers	Rossland-Trail	Social Credit	1952
John Douglas Tidball Tisdalle	Saanich	Social Credit	1953
James Allan Reid	Salmon Arm	Social Credit	1952
Francis Xavier Richter	Similkameen	Social Credit	1953
Frank Howard	Skeena	CCF	1953
William Andrew Cecil Bennett	South Okanagan	Social Credit	1941^[a], 1949
Eric Charles Fitzgerald Martin	Vancouver-Burrard	Social Credit	1952
Bert Price	Vancouver-Burrard	Social Credit	1952
Alexander Small Matthew	Vancouver Centre	Social Credit	1953
George Churchill Moxham			1953
Leslie Raymond Peterson			1955
Arthur James Turner	Vancouver East	CCF	1941
Arnold Alexander Webster	Vancouver East	CCF	1953
Thomas Audley Bate	Vancouver-Point Grey	Social Credit	1953
Robert William Bonner		Social Credit	1952
Arthur Laing		Liberal	1953
Lydia Augusta Arsens	Victoria City	Social Credit	1953
William Neelands Chant			1953
Walter Percival Wright			1953
George Frederick Thompson Gregory		Liberal	1953
Irvine Finlay Corbett	Yale	Social Credit	1952

Party standings

Affiliation		Members
	Social Credit	28
	Co-operative Commonwealth	14
	Liberal	4
	Progressive Conservative	1
	Labour	1
Total		48
Government Majority		8

By-elections

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

Electoral district	Member elected	Party	Election date	Reason
Victoria City	George Frederick Thompson Gregory	Liberal	November 24, 1953	W.P. Wright resigned to provide seat for E.M. Gunderson
Lillooet	Donald Frederick Robinson	Social Credit	September 12, 1955	J.G. Gibson resigned to seek electoral vindication for allegations of fraud and patronage that he made in the legislature
Vancouver Centre	Leslie Raymond Peterson	Social Credit	September 12, 1955	death of G.C. Moxham November 10, 1955

Other changes

Lorenzo Giovando leaves the Progressive Conservatives to become an Independent in July 1954.^[5]

Notes

^ First elected as a Conservative

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
^ "Premiers of British Columbia 1871-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
^ "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
^ "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-09-23.
^ "A checklist of members of the Legislature of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 2013-05-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2022-03-26.

[5] First elected as a Conservative

[elections-1] "Electoral History of British Columbia 1871-1986" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 2020-08-31.

[premier-2] "Premiers of British Columbia 1871-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-09-23.

[3] "Leaders of the Opposition in British Columbia 1903-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-20. Retrieved 2011-07-20.

[4] "Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia 1872-" (PDF). BC Legislature. Retrieved 2011-09-23.

[6] "A checklist of members of the Legislature of British Columbia" (PDF). Legislative Library of British Columbia. 2013-05-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-27. Retrieved 2022-03-26.

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