B.C. Conservatives win majority government, Lorne Doerkson set to become next premier

Posted October 25, 2026 12:00 am.

The resurrection of the Conservative Party in B.C. is complete.

B.C. Conservative interim leader Lorne Doerkson defeated incumbent David Eby and the BC NDP in Saturday’s provincial election, CityNews is projecting.

Doerkson’s transition from a little-known MLA from Cariboo-Chilcotin to board-appointed party leader to premier-elect in less than five weeks is one of the fastest successful ascents to power – by way of a general election – in Canadian history.

It also completes a stunning reversal for the Conservative Party of British Columbia, which went from a virtually dormant fringe entity in B.C. politics – failing to elect a single MLA for nearly half a century – to a governing party in a few short years.

The result seemed implausible just 32 days ago, when Eby gambled by calling a snap election a full two years before the next scheduled vote, despite having a one-seat majority in the legislature.

Eby initially told British Columbians he needed a stronger mandate to deal with the economic uncertainty brought on by Donald Trump and U.S. tariffs. He later said the election was needed to end the frustrations of a “stalled out” legislature. His opponents viewed it as an opportunistic strategy given widespread chaos within the Conservative ranks at the time.

Either way, the decision backfired for Eby and the BC NDP, which failed to slow the Conservatives’ momentum once Doerkson was installed as party leader – a move that immediately reversed the near-daily defections under the previous reign and reunited a large swathe of the right-of-centre vote in the province.

Now the New Democrats have been reduced to the role of Official Opposition for the first time since 2017 as voters opted to move away from left-leaning politics.

The Conservative costed platform, which was only released a few days after advance voting had already begun, presented a plan to “supercharge” B.C.’s economy by bringing in new revenue without cutting front-line services or raising taxes. The party described the platform as one of restraint, not austerity. It vows to shrink the deficit to $10.8 billion by 2030.

The Tories ran on promises to cut income tax; approve new home builds with less red tape; replace the no-fault insurance model with a hybrid system; open more child care spaces and create 24-hour child care for certain professions; repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA); and expand natural gas and LNG development.

From the ashes

For the longest time, the B.C. Conservative Party operated as a minor entity in in the province, with right-of-centre votes largely being cast for Social Credit and later the B.C. Liberals. Just six years ago, the Conservatives received less than two per cent of the vote in the 2020 provincial election.

Enter John Rustad, a former B.C. Liberal who joined the Tories in February 2023 and became party leader the following month. Under Rustad’s leadership, the Conservatives won 44 seats in October 2024 – just three shy of forming government.

Amid infighting, departures and expulsions of caucus members, Rustad was forced to resign as leader last December, triggering yet another period of turmoil for the party. After several months under interim leader Trevor Halford, the volatility returned when Kerry-Lynne Findlay took over, tilting the party further towards the right.

Findlay’s 113 days in charge saw multiple MLAs exit the caucus – they either quit or were fired – as debate raged over the proper direction of the party. The Conservative caucus fell to the mid-20s in the final moments of her leadership. She quit Sept. 20 – two days before Eby called the snap election.

The remaining members of the embattled Conservative caucus recommended Doerkson take over as party leader. Doerkson hurried back from a trip to Africa and immediately brought several legislators back to the Conservative fold.

Two days later, he was campaigning to become premier at the helm of a party he only joined in 2024.

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Doerkson was one of the first defectors to the Conservatives from BC United as that party imploded in the wake of its name change from the B.C. Liberals.

Before his elevation, Doerkson’s time in the legislature was spent mostly hyper-focused on his riding and region, beset by wildfires and hospital emergency room closures.

Doerkson’s time as publisher of the local newspaper had put him squarely at the heart of the community. He’s also a former rodeo rider, who has framed positions on health care from his perspective as a former visitor to emergency rooms.

Dodging controversy, criticism

On the path to victory, the Conservatives managed to sidestep some controversies, particularly concerning their candidates’ social media posts.

Jordan McIntosh, an 18-year-old candidate for Vancouver-Strathcona, was dumped over online posts that included saying Adolph Hitler killed “lots of Jews” not because he “hated them specifically” but because there were so many of them. Another candidate, Joachim Agou, was ejected from the party for online comments saying the driver of a car that rammed a pro-Palestinian protest group in Switzerland should have “reversed too.”

Also coming under fire was Katy Merrifield, the election campaign director for the B.C. Conservatives, for an anti-Islam social media post in which she said the religion was an “abhorrent ideology” that needs to be expelled. Doerkson defended Merrifield, saying the post was made in a moment of trauma. The decision to keep her on was criticized by the New Democrats.

Doerkson’s opponents also condemned the party for not dropping Chilliwack North candidate Heather Maahs for comments she made about the SOGI 123 program. During a podcast appearance in 2022, Maahs said the program was “not just sex education that has gone too far” but may even be a form of grooming.

The Conservatives were also criticized for a noticeable lack of media availabilities in the final stretch of the campaign, and for not allowing reporters to ask Doerkson follow-up questions at news conferences.

Also raising eyebrows was a decision by the Conservatives that Doerkson would not be doing interviews on election night if he won.

–With files from The Canadian Press

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