British Columbia Social Credit Party
The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For four decades, the party dominated the British Columbian political scene, with the only break occurring between the 1972 and 1975 elections when the British Columbia New Democratic Party governed.
British Columbia Social Credit Party | |
|---|---|
| Former provincial party | |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Dissolved | 2023 |
| Headquarters | Unit 101 – 8091 Granville Avenue, Richmond, BC, V6Y 1P5 |
| Ideology | Right-wing populism (1950s–1970s) Social credit (until the 1950s) Conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right to right-wing |
| Colours | Blue and red |
| |
Although founded as part of the Canadian social credit movement, promoting social credit policies of monetary reform, the BC Social Credit Party later discarded the ideology and became a political vehicle for fiscal conservatives and later social conservatives in British Columbia.
The party essentially collapsed within one term of its 1991 defeat. It has not been represented in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia since 1996, and only existed in a nominal fashion from around 2001 to 2013 when the party was deregistered for failing to nominate more than two candidates in two consecutive provincial elections. The party re-registered in June 2016 to participate in the 2017 election. It did not nominate any candidates in the 2020 election, and was again deregistered as a party on February 1, 2023.
Former Prime Minister of Canada Kim Campbell started her political career in the BC Social Credit Party.