List of premiers of British Columbia

File:David Eby - 2022 (52507022370) (cropped).png

David Eby has been premier of British Columbia since 2022.

The premier of British Columbia is the first minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The province was a British crown colony governed by the governors of British Columbia before joining Canadian Confederation in 1871. Since then, it has had a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the legislative assembly. The premier is British Columbia's head of government, and the queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of British Columbia. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of British Columbia and presides over that body.

Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a no-confidence motion.

Before 1903, British Columbia did not use a party system; instead, premiers of British Columbia had no official party affiliation and were chosen by elected members of the legislative assembly from among themselves. Candidates ran as "Government", "Opposition", "Independent", or in formulations such as "Opposition independent", indicating their respective positions to the incumbent regime.

British Columbia has had 36 individuals serve as premier since joining Confederation, of which 14 individuals had no party affiliation, three were Conservatives, eight were Liberals, four were Socreds, and seven were New Democrats. The first premier was John Foster McCreight, who was inaugurated in 1871. Joseph Martin spent the shortest time in office, at 106 days. At over twenty years, W. A. C. Bennett spent the longest time in office and is the only premier to serve in more than five parliaments. The incumbent premier is David Eby, who was sworn in on November 18, 2022.

Premiers of British Columbia

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) District	Term of office	Electoral mandates (Assembly)	Political party	Refs
1	75x150px	John Foster McCreight (1827–1913) MLA for Victoria City	–	Title created (no assembly) 1871 election (1st Assembly)	Non-partisan
2		Amor De Cosmos (1825–1897) MLA for Victoria	–	Appointment (1st Assembly)	Non-partisan
3		George Anthony Walkem (1834–1908) MLA for Cariboo	–	Appointment (1st Assembly) 1875 election (2nd Assembly)	Non-partisan
4		Andrew Charles Elliott (1829–1889) MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (2nd Assembly)	Non-partisan
5		George Anthony Walkem (1834–1908) MLA for Cariboo	–	1878 election (3rd Assembly)	Non-partisan
6		Robert Beaven (1836–1920) MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (3rd Assembly) 1882 election (4th Assembly)	Non-partisan
7		William Smithe (1842–1887) MLA for Cowichan	–	Appointment (4th Assembly) 1886 election (5th Assembly)	Non-partisan
8		Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (1847–1889) MLA for Lillooet	–	Appointment (5th Assembly)	Non-partisan
9		John Robson (1824–1892) MLA for New Westminster MLA for Cariboo	–	Appointment (5th Assembly) 1890 election (6th Assembly)	Non-partisan
10	75x150px	Theodore Davie (1852–1898) MLA for Cowichan-Alberni	–	Appointment (6th Assembly) 1894 election (7th Assembly)	Non-partisan
11		John Herbert Turner (1834–1923) MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (7th Assembly)	Non-partisan
12		Charles Augustus Semlin (1836–1927) MLA for Yale-West	–	1898 election (8th Assembly)	Non-partisan
13		Joseph Martin (1852–1923) MLA for Vancouver City	–	Appointment (8th Assembly)	Non-partisan
			Immediately lost a confidence vote 28 to 1 upon being appointed but formed a cabinet and governed for another three months anyway
14		James Dunsmuir (1851–1920) MLA for South Nanaimo	–	1900 election (9th Assembly)	Non-partisan
15		Edward Gawler Prior (1853–1920) MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (9th Assembly)	Non-partisan
16		Sir Richard McBride (1870–1917) MLA for Westminster-Dewdney MLA for Dewdney MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (9th Assembly) 1903 election (10th Assembly) 1907 election (11th Assembly) 1909 election (12th Assembly) 1912 election (13th Assembly)	Conservative Named leader in 1903
			Led first partisan administration. During First World War, the provincial government purchased and took possession of two submarines to defend the province from the threat of German attack; quickly transferred by order of the federal government to the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1914. Created the province's first university, the University of British Columbia.
17		William John Bowser (1867–1933) MLA for Vancouver City	–	Appointment (13th Assembly)	Conservative Named leader in 1915
18		Harlan Carey Brewster (1870–1918) MLA for Victoria City	–	1916 election (14th Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1912
			Brought in women's suffrage, instituted prohibition, and combatted political corruption
19		John Oliver (1856–1927) MLA for Dewdney MLA for Victoria City MLA for Nelson	–	Appointment (14th Assembly) 1920 election (15th Assembly) 1924 election (16th Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1918
			Developed the produce industry in the Okanagan Valley, and tried to persuade the federal government to lower the freight rate for rail transport. In 1923, hosted the visit of Warren Harding to Vancouver, the first ever visit of a sitting United States President to Canada.
20	75x150px	John Duncan MacLean (1873–1948) MLA for Yale	–	Appointment (16th Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1927
21		Simon Fraser Tolmie (1867–1937) MLA for Saanich	–	1928 election (17th Assembly)	Conservative Named leader in 1926
			Attempted to apply "business principles to the business of government" during the Great Depression hit. Unemployment reached 28% – the highest in Canada. Set up relief camps. The Kidd Report recommended such sharp cuts to social services that the Conservative Party split and decided to run no candidates in the 1933 election. Local riding associations that supported Tolmie ran "Unionist" candidates while those supporting former premier Bowser stood "non-partisan" candidates and others ran as Independent Conservatives, resulting in electoral collapse and only 2 Conservative MLAs (one pro-Bowser, one pro-Tolmie) being returned and Tolmie losing his own seat.
22	75x150px	Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (1873–1956) MLA for Prince Rupert	–	1933 election (18th Assembly) 1937 election (19th Assembly) 1941 election (20th Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1929
			Attempted to extend government services and relief to the unemployed during the Great Depression. Re-elected in 1937 using the slogan "socialized capitalism". Failed to win a majority in 1941 and removed as leader by his party when he was unwilling to form a coalition government with the Conservative Party to keep the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation out of power.
23	75x150px	John Hart (1879–1957) MLA for Victoria City	–	Appointment (20th Assembly) 1945 election (21st Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1941
			Became Liberal leader and premier in order to form a coalition government with the Conservatives, which his predecessor had refused to do, in order to keep the socialist CCF out of power. Undertook an ambitious program of rural electrification, hydroelectric and highway construction. Built Highway 97 to northern British Columbia and relaunched the Bridge River Power Project, which was the province's first major hydroelectric development. Established the BC Power Commission to provide power to smaller communities that were not serviced by private utilities.
24		Boss Johnson (1890–1964) MLA for New Westminster	–	Appointment (21st Assembly) 1949 election (22nd Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1947
			Introduced compulsory health insurance, and a 3% provincial sales tax to pay for it, expanded the highway system, extended the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and negotiated the Alcan Agreement, which facilitated construction of the Kenney Dam. Coalition government collapsed when Conservatives left to form the Official Opposition in January 1952, leaving Johnson to lead a straight Liberal government until its defeat in that year's general election.
25		W. A. C. Bennett (1900–1979) MLA for South Okanagan	–	1952 election (23rd Assembly) 1953 election (24th Assembly) 1956 election (25th Assembly) 1960 election (26th Assembly) 1963 election (27th Assembly) 1966 election (28th Assembly) 1969 election (29th Assembly)	Social Credit
			Longest-serving premier. Oversaw rapid expansion of the province's highway system and BC Rail, creation of BC Ferries, BC Hydro, and the Bank of British Columbia, hydro-electric dam-building projects on the Columbia and Peace Rivers and the creation of the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University.
26		Dave Barrett (1930–2018) MLA for Coquitlam	–	1972 election (30th Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 1970
			Reformed the welfare system, established the province's Labour Relations Board, and expanded the public sector. Reformed Legislative Assembly by introducing question period and full Hansard transcripts of legislative proceedings. Brought in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) to protect the supply of farm land and Insurance Corporation of British Columbia to provide public car insurance.
27	75x150px	Bill Bennett (1932–2015) MLA for South Okanagan MLA for Okanagan South	–	1975 election (31st Assembly) 1979 election (32nd Assembly) 1983 election (33rd Assembly)	Social Credit Named leader in 1973
			Implemented significant cuts to social services and education and repealed labour laws, resulting in a general strike. Spent hundreds of millions of dollars on Expo 86 and the construction of BC Place, Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system, and the Vancouver Convention Centre. Built the Coquihalla Highway.
28		Bill Vander Zalm (b. 1934) MLA for Richmond	–	Appointment (33rd Assembly) 1986 election (34th Assembly)	Social Credit Named leader in 1986
			Granted five community colleges authority to grant baccalaureate degrees (Cariboo, Fraser Valley, Kwantlen, Malaspina, and Okanagan). Built Phase 3 of the Coquihalla Highway. Forced to resign due to Fantasy Gardens conflict of interest controversy.
29		Rita Johnston (b. 1935) MLA for Surrey-Newton	–	Appointment (34th Assembly)	Social Credit Named leader in 1991
30		Mike Harcourt (b. 1943) MLA for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant	–	1991 election (35th Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 1987
			Reformed the welfare system. Resigned due to Bingogate.
31		Glen Clark (b. 1957) MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway	–	Appointment (35th Assembly) 1996 election (36th Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 1996
			Signed the Nisga'a Final Agreement, continued welfare reform. Resigned due to the Fast Ferry Scandal and Casinogate.
32		Dan Miller (b. 1944) MLA for North Coast	–	Appointment (36th Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 1999
33	75x150px	Ujjal Dosanjh (b. 1947) MLA for Vancouver-Kensington	–	Appointment (36th Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 2000
			Created the Sex Offenders Registry
34		Gordon Campbell (b. 1948) MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey	–	2001 election (37th Assembly) 2005 election (38th Assembly) 2009 election (39th Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 1993
			Privatized BC Rail, hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, oversaw the launch of the Canada Line, introduced the provincial carbon tax, oversaw the completion of Golden Ears Bridge, resigned in HST controversy
35		Christy Clark (b. 1965) MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey MLA for N/A MLA for Westside-Kelowna	–	Appointment (39th Assembly) 2013 election (40th Assembly) 2017 election (41st Assembly)	Liberal Named leader in 2011
			Increased minimum wage from $8.00/hr to $10.25/hr, oversaw completion of the Gateway Program, introduced Family Day statutory holiday, oversaw completion of Evergreen Extension. Resigned after she lost the confidence of the Assembly.
36	75x150px	John Horgan (1959–2024) MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca	–	Appointment (41st Assembly) 2020 election (42nd Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 2014
			Continued construction of Site C dam, replaced medical service plan fee with payroll tax, increased minimum wage from $10.25/hr to $15.65/hr, indexed minimum wage to inflation.
37	75x150px	David Eby (b. 1976) MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey	–	Appointment (42nd Assembly) 2024 election (43rd Assembly)	NDP Named leader in 2022
Min. Led a minority government Co. Led a coalition government

See also

• List of British Columbian ministries
• Leader of the Opposition (British Columbia)