B.C. Conservatives Win Majority, Ending Nine Years of NDP Rule Under David Eby

On Saturday night in Vancouver, David Eby sat with his wife, Cailey Lynch, their children Iva, 7, Gwen, 2, and Ezra, 12, and Lynch's parents, Kay Armstrong and Alex Lynch, waiting for the first results of an election he had called himself. By the end of the evening, CTV News had projected that the B.C. Conservatives would form a majority government, ending nine years of NDP rule.

The projection came while some ridings had yet to be declared, but CTV reported that the Conservatives had already secured enough seats to push the NDP into Opposition. Interim leader Lorne Doerkson is set to become premier, leading the province's first Conservative government in nearly a century. Doerkson was himself re-elected in Cariboo–Chilcotin, a riding considered a safe Conservative seat.

Eby had justified the snap election by pointing to the challenges posed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Polling suggested that argument did not land. Research Co. found a year ago that homelessness and housing topped voters' concerns, followed by the economy, health care, the environment and public safety. In a follow-up survey this month, the economy had moved to first and housing and homelessness to second. Health care was third, then crime and public safety, then government accountability, the kind of concern that tends to surface when voters are uneasy with the incumbent. Research Co. president Mario Canseco called the contest a referendum on economic management. The environment and Trump were both missing from the list. "We spoke to 802 people, nobody mentioned Trump," he said.

The winning party has had a rough road. The Conservatives have had four leaders in two years, and the caucus has been marked by infighting among ideologically varied MLAs. John Rustad, who led the party to within a hair of government in 2024, is not seeking re-election. He was ousted as leader in 2025, then removed from caucus under Kerry-Lynne Findlay, and welcomed back once Doerkson became interim leader. Rustad described the experience as emotional and said it took a toll, but he said the party was in a much better place, and he credited Eby's snap call with uniting the right.

Others were less sure the divisions would fade. Former NDP MLA Nathan Cullen pointed to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and said governing with such a coalition is "super tricky." Former B.C. Liberal premier Christy Clark, who campaigned with the Conservatives in Surrey, said her own experience was that the desire to hold power keeps people together, even the "kooky" ones. Before polls closed, she predicted at least 60 seats for the Conservatives, saying it felt like a change election, as municipal elections across the province had been.

Smaller parties had their own night. Elenore Sturko became leader of the new CentreBC party the day the writ dropped, pitching it to voters who found both the Conservatives and the NDP too extreme. She acknowledged it would be an uphill fight to keep her own seat, but said the party had introduced itself to British Columbians and run "an absolute banger of a campaign on a shoestring budget." In Vancouver-Quilchena, Conservative candidate Carson Binda faced Dallas Brodie, the OneBC interim leader and a former Conservative, and said the local campaign was not worried about vote-splitting.

Turnout was a talking point. About 100,000 fewer people voted in advance than in the previous election. Panellists, including former B.C. Liberal MLA Mike DeJong and Clark, suggested that overlapping byelection, civic and provincial votes, along with the short campaign, may have confused voters.

The count is not finished. Polling-station ballots, advance ballots and special voting ballots were tallied on election night. Mail-in, assisted telephone and various absentee ballots will not be counted for two weeks, while Elections B.C. conducts additional integrity checks. Those late ballots could still shift any close ridings.