Social Credit went into the 1996 provincial election in an extremely precarious position. It had been unable to get its leader into the legislature at any point during the previous session. Even worse, Serwa had announced his retirement, leaving it without any incumbents for the first time since 1952. Gillanders took part in the leaders' debate, but pulled out of the campaign just before the vote and urged all non-socialist parties to present a united front against the BC NDP. The Social Credit Party was completely shut out of the legislature, garnering only 0.6 percent of the vote. At this point, the party was largely considered a dead force in BC politics, with most of its remaining members joining Reform or the Liberals. The collapse of the British Columbia Socreds within only one term of losing power was especially remarkable considering their Alberta counterparts managed to maintain at least a nominal presence in the legislature for a decade after their defeat in 1971.