The new party ran on a moderate left of centre program standing between the governing Liberal Party of British Columbia and the CCF. The new party lacked the organizational strength of either the CCF or the Liberals and was unable to field candidates in even one-third of the province's electoral districts. The party also refused to hold nominating conventions for candidates in order to prevent groups from taking over the party. Instead, individuals were invited to stand as candidates and then appointed. In the context of the Great Depression, the party's platform of moderate reformism proved unable to distinguish itself from a Liberal Party that was leaning left and using the slogan of "socialized capitalism".
