For the 1952 provincial election, the coalition government between the British Columbia Liberal Party and British Columbia Conservative Party reformed the electoral system from first past the post to the alternative vote. The coalition was nervous about the growing popularity of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the forerunner of the NDP. With the expectation that Conservative voters would list the Liberals as their second choice and vice versa, the two parties believed they'd garner enough votes between them to stay in power.