Kerry-Lynne Findlay voted the new leader of the Conservative Party of BC

Kerry-Lynne Findlay has been voted the new leader of the Conservative Party of BC.

In a close race that came down to four rounds of voting, Findlay received 4,696.51 points, or 51 percent of the vote, to win.

Caroline Elliott came a very close second with 49 percent of the vote.

In a speech after her victory, Findlay said she wants “generations now and coming to feel that they can have a comfortable and happy life as a British Columbian. Isn’t that what we all want?

“So what am I fighting for? I’m fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia. Our way of life. Mine is a grand vision of fundamental change.

Our homes, our individual rights, our property are at risk. We need hope and prosperity. As Minister of National Revenue, I oversaw lower taxes, cut red tape and returned to surplus from the worst recession since the 1930s. We can do it in British Columbia. Our province will become strong work, with good pay, modern infrastructure, resources, wealth and opportunities that have been blocked by PKD.

“We can be a powerhouse in our nation, a powerhouse no longer denied by eastern and global elites, predatory foreign nations and our constitution. The PRD’s radical ideology has destroyed property rights, side deals and economic vandalism of the PRD must end.”

In a statement released after Findlay’s win, the BC NDP said “The pro-Trump wing of the BC Conservatives has taken control of the party with Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s victory, thanks in part to her racist attacks on her leadership opponents.

“Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her caucus supporters have more in common with Donald Trump’s Republicans than with the Canadian Conservatives,” said Jennifer Whiteside, MLA for New Westminster-Coquitlam. “Even BC Conservative MPs say British Columbians should think twice before voting for it.”

The BC NDP said Findlay’s campaign included a direct racist attack on Peter Milobar, claiming he was in a conflict of interest at DRIPA because his wife and children are indigenous.

“Milobar described her attack as”the worst possible side of politics“and said her victory would give many British Columbians pause to think about whether they would actually vote for a party like this,” the party said in a statement.

BC Premier David Eby sent out a congratulatory tweet after Findlay’s win.

There were five candidates for the leadership race: Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer and Peter Milobar.

“It’s a race that’s very much about articulating opposition to the NDP leadership, but also opposing each other,” Stewart Prest, a political science professor at the University of British Columbia, said Friday after voting closed.

More than 25,000 party members cast ballots in the race.

Online voting for a secret ballot began on May 23 and ended on Friday morning. A ballot is a preferential or ranked ballot. Voters were asked to rank the candidates according to their preference.

Each of BC’s 93 constituencies is assigned 100 points, or one point per ballot cast if fewer than 100 ballots are cast in that precinct.

Points were distributed among the contestants proportionally based on first-choice votes within each district and the province’s total.

If no candidate received more than 50 percent of the statewide points on the first ballot, the candidate with the lowest number of points is eliminated.

Their supporters’ second-choice votes are then redistributed, and this continues until a candidate exceeds 50 percent of the statewide vote.

“This contest is really less about which leader and whose ideas, but more about what kind of conservatism will follow from this,” David Black, an associate professor at Royal Roads University, told Global BC earlier Saturday.

“What does the center-right look like in BC amid deep philosophical undercurrents and much turbulence within the conservative movement at large?”

Under the leadership of John Rustad, the party emerged from obscurity to reach around 30,000 votes after winning the 2024 provincial election.

Infighting fractured the caucus and reduced conservative members in the legislature to five, and ultimately led to Rustad’s expulsion in December.

Speaking at the leadership poll on Saturday, interim leader Trevor Halford said: “Not too long ago our opponents were writing us off. They said there was no way forward and they said our party was finished.

“Well, I think we broke a few hearts tonight. I can tell you, this party is just getting started.”

Halford also thanked Rustad for his hard work and dedication to the UN Conservative Party.

“I’m confident because I know that whoever we elect as our new leader tonight will be the next premier of British Columbia,” Halford added.

-with files from The Canadian Press

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