Esquimalt (electoral district)

Esquimalt was a provincial electoral district in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was one of the province's first twelve ridings upon its entry into Confederation. It was redistributed following the 1975 election into Esquimalt-Port Renfrew and Saanich and the Islands.

Election results

Note: Winners of each election are in bold.

1st 1871 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Charles Berry Brown	5	2.75%		unknown
	Independent	David Cameron	31	17.03%		unknown
	Independent	Henry S. Caulier	9	4.95%		unknown
	Independent	Henry Cogan	34	18.68%		unknown
	Independent	William Fisher	29	15.93%		unknown
	Independent	Alexander Rocke Robertson	74	40.66%		unknown
Total valid votes			182	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

British Columbia byelection: Esquimalt, November 27, 1871 ¹

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	Alexander Rocke Robertson	Acclaimed	-.- %		unknown
Total valid votes			n/a	-.- %
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
1 The byelection was called due to the resignation of A.R. Robertson upon appointment to Executive Council 14 November 1871. As this byelection writ was filled by acclamation, no polling day was required and the seat was filled within two weeks. The stated date is the date the return of writs was received by the Chief Electoral Officer.

1875 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Independent	William Fisher	58	32.58	Y
	Reform caucus	Frederick W. Williams	52	29.21	Y
	Government	Robert Weir (politician)	Robert Weir]]	43	24.16
	Government	Ninian Frederick Foster	25	14.05
Total valid votes			178	100.00

3rd 1878 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	William Fisher	45	15.41%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Hans Lars Helgesen	70	37.43%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Frederick W. Williams	78	41.00%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			187	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

4th 1882 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Francis Thomas Child	61	21.71%	–	unknown
	Government	Hans Lars Helgesen	77	27.40%	–	unknown
	Government	John Roland Hett2	71	25.27%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Charles Edward Pooley2	72	25.62%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			281	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
2 The official returns gave Hett 74 votes and Pooley 73, but a B.C. Supreme Court decision altered the results and declared Pooley elected.

5th 1886 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Hans Lars Helgesen	70	16.87%	–	unknown
	Opposition	John Roland Hett	72	17.35%	–	unknown
	Government	David Williams Higgins	123	29.64%	–	unknown
	Government	Charles Edward Pooley	150	36.14%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			415	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

6th 1890 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Opposition	Hans Lars Helgesen	89	22.20%	–	unknown
	Government	David Williams Higgins	155	38.65%	–	unknown
	Government	Charles Edward Pooley	157	39.15%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			401	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

7th 1894 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	David Williams Higgins	Accl.	--%	–	unknown
	Government	Charles Edward Pooley	Accl.	--%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			--	--%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

8th 1898 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	William Fitzherbert T. Bullen3	208	23.94%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Deenis Reginald Harris	53	6.10%	–	unknown
	Opposition	William Henry Hayward	189	21.75%	–	unknown
	Government	David Williams Higgins3	206	23.70%	–	unknown
	Opposition	Charles Edward Pooley	213	24.51%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			869	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
3 Results taken from the Victoria Colonist 12 July 1898. Although Bullen received more votes than Higgins, the B.C. Supreme Court controverted his election and declared Higgins elected instead.

9th 1900 British Columbia election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Government	George Bizantson	50	6.77%	–	unknown
	Government	Donald Fraser	75	10.16%	–	unknown
	Independent Opposition	William Henry Hayward	272	36.86%		unknown
	Independent Opposition	David Williams Higgins	111	15.04%		unknown
	Opposition	Charles Edward Pooley	230	31.17%	–	unknown
Total valid votes			738	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

10th 1903 British Columbia general election ⁴

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	John Jardine	212	47.01%		unknown
	Conservative	Charles Edward Pooley	239	52.99%		unknown
Total valid votes			451	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%
4Seat was reduced from two members to one.

11th 1907 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	John Jardine	297	58.58%		unknown
	Conservative	Charles Edward Pooley	210	41.42%		unknown
Total valid votes			507	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

12th 1909 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Conservative	Henry Dallas Helmcken	362	45.36%		unknown
	Liberal	John Jardine	436	54.64%		unknown
Total valid votes			798	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

13th 1912 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent Conservative	Henry Dallas Helmcken	186	21.73%
	Liberal	Malcolm Bruce Jackson	151	17.64%
	Independent Conservative	John Jardine	96	11.21%
	Socialist	George Oliver	25	2.92%	–	unknown
	Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley	398	46.50%		unknown
Total valid votes			856	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

14th 1916 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Arthur William McCurdy	653	49.92%		unknown
	Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley	655	50.08%		unknown
Total valid votes			1,308	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout

15th 1920 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Socialist Labour	Burges James Gadsden	479	20.63%		unknown
	Liberal	Henry Charles Helgesen	685	29.50%		unknown
	Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley	1,158	49.87%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,322	100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			%

16th 1924 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Frank Robert Carlow	625	22.64%
	Independent Conservative	Alexander Lockley	341	12.35%
	Provincial	Robert Pope Matheson	515	18.65%
	Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley	1,280	46.36%
Total valid votes			2,761	100.00%

17th 1928 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent Liberal	Frank Robert Carlow5	25	0.86%
	Conservative	Robert Henry Pooley	1,806	62.10%		unknown
	Liberal	Mary Ellen Smith 6	1,077	18.65%		unknown
Total valid votes			2,908	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			92
Turnout			%
5 Independent in Summary of Votes.
6Mary Ellen Smith was the first female candidate to the BC Legislature.

1933 British Columbia general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Robert Henry Pooley	1,466	39.03
	Liberal	Charles Eustatius Whitney-Griffiths	1,407	37.46
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Arthur Norman Brown	525	13.98
	Non-Partisan Independent Group	James Elrick	358	9.53
Total valid votes			3,756	100.00
Total rejected ballots			104

19th 1937 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	John William Archer	67	1.70%		unknown
	Social Credit League	Arabella Cicily Boydell	57	1.44%	–	unknown
	Conservative	Elmer Victor Finland	1,642	41.60%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	William Donaldson Smith	765	19.38%		unknown
	Liberal	Charles Eustatius Whitney-Griffiths	1,416	35.88%		unknown
Total valid votes			3,947	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			28
Turnout			%

20th 1941 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Liberal	Charles Taschereau Beard	1,348	35.06%		unknown
	Conservative	Elmer Victor Finland	1,554	40.42%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Henry George Webber	943	24.53%		unknown
Total valid votes			3,845	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			134
Turnout			%

21st 1945 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Charles Taschereau Beard	2,568	56.35%	–	unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	George Henry Webber	1,989	43.65%		unknown
Total valid votes			4,557	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			114
Turnout			%

22nd 1949 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Coalition	Charles Taschereau Beard	4,219	51.26%
	Independent	George Edward Bonner	1,554	40.42%
	Independent Conservative	Elmer Victor Finland	943	24.53%
	Union of Electors	Ellen Hart	92	1.12%
	Independent Conservative	Henry George Webber	2,488	30.23%
Total valid votes			8,231	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			173
Turnout			%

23rd British Columbia election, 19527
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Social Credit League	William Neelands Chant	1,606	17.73%
	Liberal	Geoffrey Indnes Edgelow	2,294	25.33%	3,597	43.14%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Hamilton Fort	1,550	17.11%	-	- %		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Frank Mitchell	3,607	39.83%	4,741	56.86%		unknown
Total valid votes			9,057	%	8,338	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			366
Turnout			%
7 Final count is between top two candidates from previous count; intermediary counts (of 3) not shown

24th British Columbia election, 1953 8
Party		Candidate	Votes 1st count	%	Votes final count	%	±%
	Social Credit League	Herbert Joseph Bruch	3,264	36.96%	4,147	51.87%
	Liberal	Geofrey Innes Edgelow	1,998	22.62%	-	- %		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Norman L. Goodwin	480	5.44	-	- %		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Frank Mitchell	3,089	34.98%	3,848	48.13%		unknown
Total valid votes			8,831	100.00%	7,995	%
Total rejected ballots			445
Total Registered Voters
Turnout			%
8 Preferential ballot; final count is between top two candidates from first count; intermediary counts (of 3) not shown

25th 1956 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	3,530	43.70
	Progressive Conservative	George Brock Chisholm	821	10.16%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Elvan Walters	2,013	24.92%		unknown
	Liberal	George Wilfrid Whittaker	1,714	21.22%		unknown
Total valid votes			8,078	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			110
Turnout			%

26th 1960 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	4,429	40.38%
	Progressive Conservative	James Bryant	991	9.04%		unknown
	Co-operative Commonwealth Fed.	Geoffrey Harris Mitchell	3.383	30.84%		unknown
	Liberal	George Wilfrid Whittaker	2,165	19.74%		unknown
Total valid votes			10,968	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			126
Turnout			%

27th 1963 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	4,951	48.28%
	New Democratic	Geoffrey Harris Mitchell	2,806	27.36%		unknown
	Liberal	Maurice Charles Simard	1,398	13.63%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Robin James Dunsmuir	1099	10.72%		unknown
Total valid votes			10,254	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			121
Turnout			%

28th 1966 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	New Democratic	John E. Bartanus	3,445	30.25%		unknown
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	6,075	53.35%
	Liberal	David Alexander Elrix	1,867	16.40%		unknown
Total valid votes			11,387	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			285
Turnout			%

29th 1969 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	8,532	52.60%
	New Democratic	James Henry Gorst	5,718	35.25%		unknown
	Liberal	Frederick Henry Phillips	1,971	12.15%		unknown
Total valid votes			16,221	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			415
Turnout			%

30th 1972 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	Herbert Joseph Bruch	5,320	27.46%
	New Democratic	James Henry Gorst	6,568	33.90%		unknown
	Liberal	Henry Donovan Joy	3,884	20.05%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	John Sedgwick Williams	3,601	18.59%		unknown
Total valid votes			19,373	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			453
Turnout			%

31st 1975 British Columbia general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Independent	John Strong Craggs	132	0.54%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Thelma Dawson	2,033	8.37%		unknown
	Social Credit	Lyle Benjamin James Kahl	10,637	43.78%
	New Democratic	Franklin John Trehern Mitchell	10,516	43.28%		unknown
	Liberal	Leonard J. Stephenson	977	4.02%		unknown
Total valid votes			24,295	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			417
Turnout			%

Subsequent elections

After the 32nd general election in 1979, the riding of Esquimalt was incorporated into the new riding of Esquimalt-Port Renfrew.

Sources

• Elections BC website - historical election data