Why did the NDP seat count drop so precipitously when the share of the popular vote remained virtually unchanged between 1972 and 1975? The answer lies in how other parties split the non-NDP vote. In 1972, Social Credit won 31% of the vote, while the Liberal Party won 16% and the Conservatives won 12%. So, with 40% of the vote, in our electoral system where the candidate with the most votes wins, the NDP was able to elect 38 MLAs. Three years later, a revitalized Social Credit managed to unite the non-NDP vote and reduce the Liberals to just 7% (two Liberal MLAs had jumped to the Socreds) and the Conservatives to 4%. That allowed them to elect a government with a large majority. How the vote is divided has been a key factor in determining the outcome of BC elections.
And the reasons why
