Five party leaders prepare for B.C. election race as nominations accelerate

British Columbians will vote on Oct. 24 after Premier David Eby called a snap election two years into the NDP government’s four-year term. Candidate nominations are accelerating across the province, and the contest is taking shape as a five-way race. Two of the five parties represented in the legislature have new leaders, while several prominent NDP cabinet ministers have said they will not seek re-election.

Eby has led the NDP since 2022 and has moved the party toward the centre, rescinding the consumer carbon tax, ending the drug decriminalization pilot, supporting liquefied natural gas development and pledging amendments to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. He says an election is needed to secure public backing for his government’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Opponents call the timing a cynical attempt to capitalize on divisions in the B.C. Conservative Party. Health Minister Ravi Kahlon, Jobs Minister Brenda Bailey, Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene and Agriculture Minister Lana Popham are among cabinet members who say they will not run again.

The B.C. Conservatives are attempting to repair recent divisions after Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned Sunday following a scandal-plagued tenure of less than four months. The party board selected Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson as her replacement. Doerkson, a former bareback rodeo rider, businessperson and longtime publisher for Black Press newspapers including the Williams Lake Tribune, is seen as a stabilizing figure.

Several recent defectors returned to the Conservatives after Doerkson’s appointment. Of eight sitting MLAs who joined CentreBC on Friday, all but Surrey-Cloverdale incumbent Elenore Sturko have rejoined the Conservatives as candidates. Sturko remains with CentreBC and leads the party, which is fielding candidates elsewhere, including former Green leader Andrew Weaver in Oak Bay-Gordonhead. Sturko had been expelled from the Conservatives by former leader John Rustad before Findlay took over and has described herself as politically homeless: fiscally and on public safety conservative, but socially liberal.

Other MLAs expelled before Findlay became leader have not returned. Dallas Brodie leads One BC, which has added Surrey South incumbent Brent Chapman, Findlay’s husband, after Findlay resigned as Conservative leader. One BC appears to be challenging the Conservatives from the right, while CentreBC presses from the left.

B.C. Green Party leader Emily Lowan is running in Saanich North and the Islands, where Rob Botterell is not seeking re-election. The Greens have held the seat since 2017, giving the 25-year-old political activist what appears to be her strongest route to the legislature. Lowan has brought youth and social-media skill to the party, though she has not yet been tested in a provincial race. The Oct. 24 vote will determine whether Eby’s election gamble strengthens or weakens his leadership.