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Surrey MLA Elenore Sturko named leader of CentreBC
Elenore Sturko has become CentreBC’s leader and its only sitting MLA after seven other MLAs, including Peter Milobar, returned to the B.C. Conservatives ahead of the Oct. 24 provincial election.
CentreBC announced Tuesday afternoon that Surrey-Cloverdale MLA Elenore Sturko has been named its leader. Sturko said she was proud to be part of the party, which she described as offering British Columbians a political choice, and said she was ready to fight for people in the province.
CentreBC president Mike Wignall said Sturko’s community-service record and values made her the right choice. She is now the party’s only sitting MLA, less than a week after eight sitting MLAs announced they would join the centrist party.
Sturko told Today In BC on Sept. 22 that the other seven MLAs, including incoming leader Peter Milobar, had rejoined the B.C. Conservatives under interim leader Lorne Doerkson. Wignall said he was disappointed that Milobar and the others had not stood by commitments to CentreBC, its executive council and its members. He said CentreBC would remain committed to its foundational values and would not embrace divisive politics.
Milobar said it was for Sturko to explain her decision not to return to the B.C. Conservatives, adding that all eight MLAs knew the party’s door was open to them. Sturko said the final CentreBC caucus meeting Tuesday morning gave the MLAs the option of returning, and that she asked for time to consult loved ones and staff before deciding she could not go back.
Sturko was removed from the B.C. Conservative caucus in September 2025 by former leader John Rustad. She said the party may have more momentum in its election campaign, but said earlier promises in 2024 to move toward the political centre had not been borne out. She also cited the party’s support, under former interim leader Trevor Halford, for a bill she said would destroy the Human Rights Code.
First elected in a 2022 Surrey South byelection under B.C. United, Sturko joined the B.C. Conservatives before the 2024 provincial election. She said she would rather remain CentreBC’s only sitting MLA than compromise her values.
The announcement followed B.C. NDP leader David Eby’s call Tuesday for a snap provincial election on Oct. 24. The B.C. Conservatives said Doerkson and Milobar had come together to offer British Columbians a governing alternative to the NDP. Sturko criticized the election call, citing what she said was the government’s $13.8-billion deficit, and said CentreBC still plans to run candidates for voters to consider on Oct. 24.