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For many decades, a simple rule seemed to explain the dynamics of B.C. politics.

With the NDP and its CCF predecessor representing a left-of-centre challenge to the status quo, the forces of the centre-right would coalesce to block the left from coming to power.

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Between 1941 and ’52, this led to a formal coalition between the Liberals and Conservatives, which finally broke up over conflicting policy priorities. 1952 saw experimentation with a new electoral system — the single transferable vote — but the surprise winner under this short-lived arrangement was a newcomer to the political arena, Social Credit.

Under the leadership of W.A.C. Bennett, it became the flagship party for the anti-left forces in the province, dominating the political scene for the next 20 years. When Social Credit was ultimately defeated in 1972 by the NDP, it was in good part because of a split in the ranks of the centre-right, with the Liberals and Conservatives draining votes from a premier and a party which had become long in the tooth.