Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman leaves B.C. Conservatives, sixth departure in two weeks

Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman has left the B.C. Conservative caucus and says he will sit as an Independent. In a Thursday, Aug. 27 statement, he encouraged fellow MLAs to join him.

Banman said he had high hopes for the party after its leadership race ended in May, but conversations with constituents convinced him that an NDP victory in the next election was becoming increasingly likely under the B.C. Conservatives’ new leadership and direction. He said people had repeatedly told him they viewed the new leader as unelectable.

Kerry-Lynne Findlay was elected leader at the end of May but does not hold a seat in the legislature. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper has said she will resign to allow Findlay to run in her riding. Banman is the fifth MLA to leave the caucus since Monday and the sixth since Aug. 14.

Banman was among the first MLAs to join former leader John Rustad and the fledgling B.C. Conservatives in 2023. He said their movement was founded on fiscal responsibility and bringing common sense back to B.C. politics, and said he was proud the party came close to forming government in the 2024 provincial election.

Voters elected 44 Conservative MLAs in that election; the party is now down to 31. Six MLAs left or were removed while Rustad led the party. Nearly the entire party executive, including president Aisha Estey and executive director Angelo Isidorou, has resigned over the past month, while numerous caucus and party staff have also left or been removed. On Wednesday, Findlay dismissed operations director Apollo Chung, a former Alberta Republican Party staffer whom she had hired.