Lorne Doerkson led the B.C. Conservatives to a projected majority government in Saturday’s provincial election, handing David Eby and the BC NDP a defeat that ends their hold on government. CityNews is projecting that Doerkson will become the province’s next premier.
The result is a sharp reversal for Eby, who called a snap election two years before the next scheduled vote while his party still held a one-seat majority in the legislature. He first said he needed a stronger mandate to confront economic uncertainty tied to Donald Trump and U.S. tariffs, then later argued the vote was needed to break the frustrations of a legislature that had become stalled out. The gamble failed, and the New Democrats will move into the role of Official Opposition for the first time since 2017.
Emily Lowan and the BC Green Party were projected to finish third, but the decisive shift was between the New Democrats and the Conservatives. Doerkson had only recently become the face of a party that had been in turmoil before he took over, and his rise from little-known MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin to premier-elect happened in less than five weeks.
The campaign made clear why the result broke so sharply. The B.C. Conservative platform promised to cut income tax, speed up new home construction, replace the no-fault insurance model with a hybrid system, open more child care spaces, create 24-hour child care for certain professions, repeal DRIPA, and expand natural gas and LNG development. It also vowed to shrink the deficit to $10.8 billion by 2030, a pitch aimed at voters who were ready for a different direction after years of New Democrats in power.
That platform was released only a few days after advance voting had already begun, which made the party’s late-stage push even stranger. But by Saturday night the argument had landed. The Conservatives were no longer a minor force on the sidelines, and Doerkson had turned a short, chaotic leadership run into a projected majority and the province’s next premiership.
