Wednesday January 28, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC
Political news analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Yesterday in Surrey, former grocery retailer Darrell Jones announced his participation as a contestant in the Conservative Party of BC leadership race.
Jones is a former President of Pattison Food Group and had a high public profile –including in upbeat cheery TV commercials — as President Of Save-On-Foods for 13 years (from 2012 to February 2025).
Jones claims extensive experience in business but he has never run for political office. As millionaire businessman Jimmy Pattison once said years ago with admiration for some local politicians — ‘politics is a tough job’ — implying that business is less complicated.
Pretty much all of Jones’ career success has been in the grocery sector. It’s unknown how transferable that is to the prospect of running and representing a political party or a province.
Why he’s running:
Jones said he’s fed up with the BC NDP government, which he says has squandered the economy through high taxes and deficits.
He says he is coming out of retirement, to “step up” and see if he can help.
NDP response:
The BC NDP immediatley issued a statement yesterday afternoon, responding to Jones’ announcement as a BC Conservative contestant.
“He made life more expensive for people and workers while increasing corporate profits” during his time as the President of Save-On-Foods, the NDP says.
The NDP recalls that during the pandemic, Save-On was the first grocery store chain to cut hazard pay for essential front line workers (dropping the $2 per hour additional safety benefit before competitors did).
“Working British Columbians can’t trust him not to make life harder and more expensive for people,” says NDP MLA Sunita Dhir (Vancouver-Langara).
Seven contestants:
The list of BC Conservative leadership contestants is now: Iain Black | Sheldon Clare, MP | Caroline Elliott | Yuri Fulmer | Warren Hamm | Darrell Jones | Peter Milobar, MP. [more article links to come].
All seven contestants are based on the mainland; none are campaigning from Vancouver Island.
Leadership race nominations remain open to February 15.
Voting by BC Conservative Party members will take place May 9 to 30. The new BC Conservative Leader will be announced on May 30.
The interim party leader until that time is Trevor Halford, MP.
===== RELATED:
- BC Conservative leadership race: Iain Black declares a strong start (January 24, 2026)
- Six contenders in BC Conservative leadership race toward May 30 (January 16, 2026)
- BC Conservative leadership race heats up (January 14, 2026)
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