Okanagan South

Okanagan South was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It first appeared in the general election of 1979 and last appeared in the 1986 general election. The riding is similar to its main predecessor, South Okanagan, which last appeared in 1975. The area of the riding was originally part of the Yale riding until 1890, then part of Yale-East from 1894 to 1900, then part of the electoral district of Okanagan from 1903 to 1912, and then South Okanagan until 1975.

The riding returned one member to the legislature in 1979 and 1983, and two members in 1986.

Notable MLAs

The most famous MLA from this riding was indubitably William Richards Bennett, Premier of BC 1975-1986.

Election results

32nd British Columbia election, 1979
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	William Richards Bennett	20,552	62.45%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Hugh Duncan Dendy	10,881	33.06%		unknown
	Progressive Conservative	Ernest Garedner Arthur	1,479	4.49%		unknown
Total valid votes			32,912	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			324
Turnout			%

33rd British Columbia election, 1983
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
	Social Credit	William Richards Bennett	27,647	66.05%	–	unknown
	New Democratic	Brian Christopher Taylor	12,859	30.72%		unknown
	Liberal	Robert N, McKee	848	2.03%		unknown
	Independent	Peter C.L. Griffiths	338	0.81%		unknown
	Independent	Frederick L. Bartell	165	0.39%		unknown
Total valid votes			41,857	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			476
Turnout			%

1986 British Columbia general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	Social Credit	Clifford Jack Serwa	24,287	30.38
	Social Credit	Larry Chalmers	23,380	29.25
	New Democratic	Hugh Duncan Dendy	13,035	16.31
	New Democratic	Eileen M. Robertson	12,111	15.15
	Liberal	David G. King	3,651	4.57
	Liberal	William Henry Gow	3,225	4.03
	New Republic Party	Frederick L. Bartell	245	0.31
Total valid votes			79,934
Total rejected ballots			1,094
Seat increased to two members from one.

Redistribution of the riding following the 1986 election saw the seat broken into two, Okanagan West and Okanagan East.

Sources

Elections BC website - historical election data