From mess to majority: How the BC Conservatives won the election

Mike Hager, Andrea Woo and Ian Bailey Published YesterdayUpdated 1 hour ago Open this photo in gallery: Lorne Doerkson was named interim leader of the BC Conservatives in September. A month later, he was elected premier. ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press Comments Save for laterPlease log in to bookmark this story. Log InCreate an account In the months leading up to David Eby’s snap election call, chaos reigned in the BC Conservative Party. It was plagued , MLA defections, damaging leaks of internal conversations, separate probes , and – amid the mayhem – a leader unable to calm her dwindling caucus as it sought answers. Peter Milobar was the first domino to fall, quitting the Conservative caucus to sit as an independent in mid-August. “You could tell that this was going to just keep spiralling out of control,” Mr. Milobar, who was re-elected last weekend as Kamloops Centre MLA, told The Globe at the time. Andrew Coyne: Did the B. Conservatives’ election win run against the federal tide, or with it? Over the next month, a dozen other MLAs either quit or were expelled , Kerry-Lynne Findlay, fuelling speculation that Mr. Eby, then the NDP leader and B. C. premier, would call an election to capitalize on his ravaged rivals. As the pressure on her mounted to right the Conservative ship, it became increasingly clear that was unlikely. Findlay’s resignation on Sept. 20 capped months of turmoil that threatened to squander the party’s hard-fought gains in popularity. Her departure cleared the path for new leader Lorne Doerkson and catalyzed a remarkable reversal of fortunes that would carry the Conservatives all the way to victory and a majority government. The Globe and Mail spoke with more than a dozen Conservative politicians, staffers and strategists to piece together the days leading up to the Sept. 22 election call and ensuing campaign. In mid-September, delegates at the annual Union of BC Municipalities convention, rankled , passed an emergency resolution urging Mr. Eby said he would “take the resolution under advisement.” That same Wednesday, Sept. 16, the Conservative caucus held an emergency meeting. MLA Claire Rattée said the next day she was one of 10 signatories on a letter urging Ms. Findlay told the municipalities convention that she was “not going anywhere,” and on Sept. 18 expelled Ms. Rattée, Trevor Halford and John Rustad, the long-time Northern B. MLA who led the Conservatives to within three seats of forming government in the 2024 election. “There’s no room for internal power struggles or vanity projects.