Conservative

It won 44 of 93 seats in 2024 and became the Official Opposition. Wikipedia describes it as centre-right to right-wing, and Lorne Doerkson is interim leader. It contests the 24 October 2026 British Columbia general election.

History

Wikipedia traces the party to 1900. Under Richard McBride it governed from 1903 to 1916, and again under Simon Fraser Tolmie from 1928. It renamed itself Progressive Conservatives in 1942 after wartime coalitions with the Liberals, and fell to Social Credit after 1952. It elected no MLAs in a general election from 1975 to 2024. John Rustad, a former BC Liberal, joined in 2023 and became leader that March. In 2024 it won 44 seats with 43.27% of the vote, its best result in 72 years. The board ousted Rustad in December 2025. Kerry-Lynne Findlay led from May 2026 and resigned on 20 September 2026; Lorne Doerkson is interim leader. Nine MLAs left in August and September 2026.

Positions

Reference works describe the party as conservative and populist, centre-right to right-wing. It supports expanded resource extraction, scrapping the provincial carbon tax, considering nuclear power and bringing in private auto insurance. On housing it would scrap the NDP's fourplex and sixplex reforms. It supports public and private health options, opposes COVID-19 vaccine mandates for health workers, opposes SOGI education policies and safe injection sites, and supports involuntary commitment for severe addiction.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Wikipedia · Wikipedia