Friday January 30, 2026 | VICTORIA, BC
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
There are now eight contestants in the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada: Iain Black | Sheldon Clare, MP | Caroline Elliott | Kerry-Lynne Findlay | Yuri Fulmer | Warren Hamm | Darrell Jones | Peter Milobar, MP.
All eight are based in the BC lower mainland, with none on Vancouver Island.
Kerry-Lynne Findlay signs on:
As of yesterday, the eighth person to stand for the leadership position is former federal Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay (representing South Surrey-White Rock and before that Delta-Richmond East over three terms during 2015-2025).
Findlay says in a statement that she is running because she doesn’t want former BC Liberals to take over the party, saying they are pursuing a “hidden liberal agenda” and are “no different than” the NDP.
Findlay pledges to keep the BC Conservative party “truly conservative”.
Findlay was a party whip under Pierre Poilievre, who incidentally is delivering a speech at the federal Conservative convention this evening Calgary … a crucial moment to hold onto his grasp of the party.
What’s in a name:
However even a quick review or recall of BC Liberal policies and actions over the years would prove that assertion to be untrue.
The BC Liberals name was a misnomer from the start — they have always been a centre-right party including and especially when they were in government 2001-2016.
The confusion between Liberal and BC Liberal in this province has long been taken advantage of, one way or another.
Campaign stuff:
Findlay is married to current BC Conservative MLA Brent Chapman (Surrey South) who was first elected in 2024.
Findlay’s campaign launch on Thursday comes after she shared a social media post faulting leadership rival Caroline Elliott for donating to BC United (a brief iteration of the BC Liberals, created and dissolved in 2024).
Meanwhile, Elections BC records show that both Findlay and also BC Conservative leadership candidate Yuri Fulmer who wrote the original post, also repeatedly donated to the former BC Liberal Party.
BC Conservatives at the moment:
Former BC Conservative Leader John Rustad resigned in December. There are reasons to believe he was pushed out, and not for any sudden developments.
The interim leader of the BC Conservatives is MLA Trevor Halford.
===== RELATED:
- Darrell Jones becomes 7th contestant in BC Conservative leadership race (January 28, 2026)
- 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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