Work crews have been busy in the British Columbia legislature over the summer, prying apart desks in the historic chamber and piling them up in hallways as they tried to work out how to fit in six more seats.

The renovation, with an estimated budget of $300,000, including new red carpet, was needed to accommodate 93 members of the legislature who will be sitting there after the Oct. 19 provincial election.

The carpenters and carpet layers weren害羞草研究所檛 the only ones pondering changes necessitated by the province害羞草研究所檚 rapidly growing population. B.C.害羞草研究所檚 major parties are also gearing up to fill those extra seats with help from voters in urban and suburban settings.

害羞草研究所淲ith six new seats comes the need to recruit more volunteers and staff more campaigns, and, of course, the need to spend more money,害羞草研究所� NDP campaign director Marie Della Mattia said in a statement.

害羞草研究所淏ut when people are excited about your leader and your plan, raising money and recruiting volunteers is much easier.害羞草研究所�

B.C. Conservative campaign director and executive director Angelo Isidorou said more seats means more effort 害羞草研究所� but also more potential gains.

害羞草研究所淕enerally speaking, fewer seats means fewer candidates to recruit,害羞草研究所� Isidorou said in a written response to questions about the new ridings. 害羞草研究所淗owever, some of these redistributed ridings offer the Conservative Party an opportunity to reach more voters in a direct and local way.害羞草研究所�

The six additional seats are all in major population centres in southern B.C.

Four are in the Metro Vancouver communities of Langley, Surrey, Burnaby and Vancouver, one is in the Victoria suburb of Langford, and another is in the urban core of Kelowna.

害羞草研究所淭hese are the areas where the province is growing and the population requires additional representation to maintain that representation-by-population,害羞草研究所� said Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia.

害羞草研究所淪o, that害羞草研究所檚 the general reason why we害羞草研究所檙e seeing this redrawing of the map, and it害羞草研究所檚 worth noting that it really places additional weight on the need for parties to win votes in the urban areas of the province.害羞草研究所�

David Black, an associate professor of communication and culture at Royal Roads University, said it would be a mistake to automatically assume the new urban seats will favour left-leaning parties such as the NDP.

Black said geographical factors create regional political leanings in places such as the Fraser Valley and the Okanagan, where centre-right parties have been favoured.

害羞草研究所淚 think this pattern holds in the sense that Langley and Kelowna are not the same as Burnaby, Surrey or even Langford, given how close Langford is to Greater Victoria,害羞草研究所� he said.

害羞草研究所淲hat we know from the political science literature is that where you live has a lot to do with how you vote. We think of the left-right spectrum as a political scale, but it is as much geographical as it is ideological.

害羞草研究所淧laces can choose people because places cluster qualities and features 害羞草研究所� that amplify and direct people toward certain voting preferences.害羞草研究所�

While Black said the new seats shouldn害羞草研究所檛 be seen as automatically conferring advantage to the NDP, the trend over decades in B.C. showed a provincial electorate moving left, on average.

He said the best evidence of that came in the 2017 provincial election, when the NDP held on to 40 per cent of the popular vote despite another left-leaning party 害羞草研究所� the BC Greens 害羞草研究所� garnering almost 17 per cent of votes.

害羞草研究所淭he fact that the NDP was able to hold 40, even losing that much on their left with the Green Party at 17 (under former leader Andrew Weaver), suggests to me that this axis 害羞草研究所� which used to be centre-right 害羞草研究所� has tilted about five percentage points to the left,害羞草研究所� Black said, noting population growth was happening mostly in urban centres.

害羞草研究所淎nd so, this phenomenon whereby people in cities tend to vote, more or less, leaning NDP 害羞草研究所� or Green, for that matter 害羞草研究所� is the reason I believe we害羞草研究所檝e seen this tilt.害羞草研究所�

Black said this demographic trend put an imperative on centre-right parties to speak to urban voters more because 害羞草研究所渢hat害羞草研究所檚 where the ridings are.害羞草研究所�

He said in an interview in mid-August that while poll numbers for the Conservatives had surged, seat projections on tracking sites still indicated a sizable advantage to the New Democrats due to the number of urban ridings.

害羞草研究所淚 think this partly reflects a problem that the Conservatives have to solve, and that is the question of vote efficiency,害羞草研究所� Black said. 害羞草研究所淭he Conservatives, according to the poll data, are running up the popular vote totals enormously 害羞草研究所� well over 50 per cent 害羞草研究所� in the north, but there are relatively few ridings up there whereas the NDP is more competitive in the cities where of course there are more ridings. That害羞草研究所檚 the path to power.害羞草研究所�

Prest cautioned against assuming an NDP advantage.

害羞草研究所淭hey still need to maintain those links with those voters,害羞草研究所� he said of the party and voters in the new ridings. 害羞草研究所淎nd it also creates opportunities for other parties to try to make inroads, as well.害羞草研究所�

The new district boundaries had also meant vast changes in electorate composition for some existing ridings, compared with the last election.

害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 going to be, I think, a certain amount of reacquainting necessary for voters when they come to pay attention to who is running to represent them in the election,害羞草研究所� Prest said, adding even small boundary changes can make a big difference in a close vote.

害羞草研究所淓very neighbourhood can make a little bit of difference at the margins,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淎nd it is specifically at those ridings where essentially the town or the city meets the country, if you like 害羞草研究所� where the urban meets the suburban or rural areas of the province 害羞草研究所� that (boundary) changes can have a real effect.害羞草研究所�