Henry Yao

Henry Yao
姚君憲
Yao in 2020
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Richmond South Centre
In office
October 24, 2020 – September 21, 2024
Preceded byLinda Reid
Succeeded byHon Chan
(Richmond Centre)
Personal details
BornJiun-Hsien Yao
1978 or 1979 (age 46–47)
Taiwan
PartyNew Democratic
Other political
affiliations
RITE Richmond
EducationUniversity of British Columbia
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese姚君憲
Simplified Chinese姚君宪
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáo Jūnxiàn

Henry Jiun-Hsien Yao (traditional Chinese: 姚君憲; simplified Chinese: 姚君宪) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2020 British Columbia general election. He represented the electoral district of Richmond South Centre as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP). He was defeated in the 2024 British Columbia general election running in Richmond Centre.

Biography

Born in Taiwan, Yao immigrated to Canada at the age of 11, settling in Richmond, British Columbia. After graduating from Matthew McNair Secondary School, he studied at the University of British Columbia, from which he received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. He was diagnosed with two types of lymphoma in 2004; after his cancer went into remission, he pursued a career in youth work.

He ran for Richmond City Council twice: the first time in 2014 as an independent candidate, then in 2018 as part of RITE Richmond. Both attempts were unsuccessful.

In the 2020 provincial election, Yao ran in the riding of Richmond South Centre as an NDP candidate, against Alexa Loo of the Liberals. He defeated Loo by a margin of 179 votes, becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Electoral record

Provincial elections

2026 British Columbia general election: Richmond Centre
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeSacha Peter7,41457.47+5.48
New DemocraticHenry Yao4,35633.76–3.02
GreenCalvin Dang7725.98–
CanWestLawrence Chen3212.49–
Total valid votes/expenses limit 12,863100.0 –$80,636.03
Total rejected ballots 380.29–0.08
Turnout 12,901–
Registered voters
Conservative hold Swing +4.25
Source: Elections BC
2024 British Columbia general election: Richmond Centre
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
ConservativeHon Chan8,42651.99–$29,190.30
New DemocraticHenry Yao5,96136.78−15.7$51,543.13
UnaffiliatedWendy Yuan1,0286.34–$56,950.40
IndependentDickens Cheung5563.43–$9,603.95
IndependentSunny Ho2371.46–$6,452.31
Total valid votes/expenses limit 16,20899.63–$71,700.08
Total rejected ballots 610.37–
Turnout 16,26949.07–
Registered voters 33,153
Conservative notional gain from New Democratic Swing –
Source: Elections BC
2020 British Columbia general election: Richmond South Centre
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticHenry Yao6,74350.67+10.39$37,030.55
LiberalAlexa Loo6,56449.33+0.61$50,107.69
Total valid votes 13,307100.00–
Rejected ballots 2071.53+0.34
Turnout 13,51440.12−6.58
Registered voters 33,685
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing +4.89
Source: Elections BC

Municipal elections

Top 8 candidates elected — Incumbents marked with "(X)". Elected members' names are in bold

2018 British Columbia municipal elections: Richmond City Council
Party Council candidate Vote %
  RITE RichmondCarol Day (X)20,8717.01
  Richmond Citizens' AssociationHarold Steves (X)19,1366.43
  Richmond Community CoalitionChak Au (X)18,0266.05
  Richmond FirstBill McNulty (X)17,2425.79
  Richmond Citizens' AssociationKelly Greene16,4645.53
  Richmond FirstLinda McPhail (X)15,5215.21
  RITE RichmondMichael Wolfe13,6274.58
  IndependentAlexa Loo (X)13,2124.44
  Richmond FirstDerek Dang (X)13,1154.40
  Richmond FirstAndy Hobbs12,3364.14
  Richmond Citizens' AssociationJudie Schneider11,6723.92
  Richmond Community CoalitionKen Johnston (X)11,1613.75
  Richmond Community CoalitionJonathan Ho11,1403.74
  Richmond Citizens' AssociationJack Trovato10,9153.67
  Richmond FirstSunny Ho8,9333.00
  RITE RichmondNiti Sharma8,9172.99
  RITE RichmondHenry Yao8,4672.84
  Richmond FirstPeter Liu8,3572.81
  Richmond Community CoalitionParm Bains7,9732.68
  IndependentJohn Roston7,9612.67
  Richmond Community CoalitionMelissa Zhang7,7082.38
  IndependentKerry Starchuk6,9592.34
  IndependentJason Tarnow5,7201.92
  IndependentAdil Awan4,2781.44
  IndependentManjit Singh4,1341.39
  IndependentDennis Page3,4781.17
  IndependentAndy Chiang3,3371.12
  IndependentTheresa Head3,2511.09
  IndependentPatrick J. Saunders2,2410.75
  IndependentZhe Zhang2,2410.75

References

  1. ↑ Wood, Graeme (2014-09-18). "Henry Yao vows spending cuts on council". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  2. 1 2 Wood, Graeme (2015-06-25). "Coffee with: Henry Yao a keen observer". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  3. 1 2 Rantanen, Maria (2020-11-07). "Update: NDP secures third provincial seat in Richmond". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. 1 2 Shen, Nono (2020-09-28). "Updated: Richmond activist Henry Yao to run for the NDP". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  5. 1 2 "Candidate bio - Henry Yao". Richmond News. 2014-10-07. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  6. ↑ "Candidate Profiles: Richmond General Local and School Election 2014" (PDF). City of Richmond. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  7. ↑ Fennell, Don (2020-11-26). "Meet your MLAs: Henry Yao (Richmond South Centre)". Richmond Sentinel. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. ↑ Kotyk, Alyse (2018-06-15). "RITE Richmond announces slate for October election". Richmond News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  9. ↑ Larsen, Karin (2020-11-07). "Projected Green seat flipped to Liberals following tightest race in B.C." CBC News. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  10. ↑ "Expenses Limits for the 2026 Provincial Election". Elections BC. 22 September 2026. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  11. ↑ "Election Night Results – 2026 Provincial General Election". Elections BC. 25 October 2026. Retrieved 25 October 2026.
  12. ↑ "Statement of Votes – 43rd Provincial General Election – October 19, 2024" (PDF). Elections BC. 17 April 2025. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "2024 Provincial General Election Financing Reports Available". Elections BC. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  14. ↑ "Statement of Votes — 42nd Provincial General Election" (PDF). Elections BC. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  15. ↑ "Election Financing Reports". Elections BC. Retrieved 7 February 2021.