David Barrett (born 2 October, 1930, Vancouver), commonly known as Dave Barrett, was a British Columbian politician and former social worker. He was Premier of British Columbia for three years between 1972 and 1975.

He was first elected to British Columbia's legislature in 1960, running on the ticket of the British Columbia Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (now known as the New Democratic Party. He became known for his public speaking abilities and held his seat through four elections. He ran for the provincial leadership of the BC NDP, but lost to Tom Berger. However, Mr. Berger was voted out in the next election, leaving Berrett to ascend to the leadership.

Dave Barrett led the NDP to its first provincial victory against the stagnating Bennett government and became Premier of British Columbia on September 15, 1972.

His government is remembered mostly for its rapid spending, quickly taking the government from surplus to debt. Under Barrett, the government started the Royal Hudson steam train service, substantially reformed the welfare system, and was responsible for a student employment initiative on BC Ferries, which ultimately ended up a disaster.

He was voted out of office in 1975, after a short tenure, mostly over his government's bad handling of finances.

The charismatic Barrett was elected Member of Parliament for the riding of Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca in 1988. He ran for the leadership of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada in 1989 but was defeated by Audrey McLaughlin, and lost his bid for re-election as MP in 1993.

He is currently retired, although he does continue to give speeches on current issues from time to time.