EDITORIAL – Surprise wasn’t that Conservatives won, it was by how much

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE SURPRISE in today’s (Oct. 24, 2026) provincial election is not that the BC Conservatives defeated the BC NDP and will form the next government. The surprise is that they won by so much. A landslide in fact.

Suddenly, we have a premier designate from the Interior in Lorne Doerkson, the accidental leader of his party who few expected a few weeks ago would be the province’s next leader. Indeed, the TV networks in the Lower Mainland labeled him several times during the evening as someone nobody had heard of before this election.

For David Eby, who will resign as NDP leader, it was a matter of bad timing and bad decision-making. He thought he could take advantage of an imploding Conservative party and, indeed, he probably would have run away with it if Kerry Lynne Findlay had remained as leader.

But calling an election in the middle of all that drama, despite clashing with a municipal election, came off as opportunistic. Which, of course, it was. Nobody bought his claim that the election was needed because of Trump.

And now, Peter Milobar is looking like one of the smart ones in returning to the Conservative fold after an extremely brief absence. There’s no doubt he’ll be in Doerkson’s cabinet, probably as finance minister.

There’s also a pretty good chance Ward Stamer, the MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson who stuck with the Conservatives after Milobar temporarily abandoned them, will become the next minister of forests.

Milobar isn’t voicing any ambitions about cabinet, which is traditional after a party wins an election. Stamer, though, is open about his hopes for the forestry job.

For the Kamloops region, it’s worth mentioning the Red Bridge. It must be replaced. And maybe the new cancer centre at Royal Inland will even get that PET-CT scanner.

 

Having a party leader and premier who’s literally next door — at least as ridings go — should certainly be a big plus simply because he’s tuned in to the region.

It’s a new era for B.C., which has been governed for decades by New Democrats, Liberals and, before them, Socreds. The last time Conservatives were in government in B.C. was in coalition with the Liberals in the 1940s and early 1950s.

Now it will be up to Doerkson and his sizeable caucus to deliver on their broad range of promises regarding the B.C. economy, and control taxes at the same time. He’s pretty much committed to fixing everything that ails the province.

As he said in his victory speech tonight, “I am gonna give this job everything I’ve got, I promise you that.”

While it will be a challenge to keep his caucus and party united, it will equally be a challenge to gain the confidence of the province at large. That might sound odd given their impressive seat count but the voter turnout of less than 50 per cent reflects some hesitation to embrace a party — and now a government elect — that people still don’t totally understand. Many stayed home.

People wanted a change from the NDP, there’s no doubt about that. It will take some time to figure out if the Conservatives are the answer.

THE RESULTS (at this writing):

Kamloops-Centre

Peter Milobar, BC Conservatives, 11,768 votes (53.3 percent); Mike Wisla, NDP, 6,751 (30.6 per cent); Annelise Beach, Green, 2,480 (11.2 per cent); Rocky McAfee, OneBC, 817 (3.7 per cent); Thaelo Procter, Independent, 243 (1.1 per cent).

Kamloops-North Thompson

Ward Stamer, BC Conservatives, 16,847 votes (64.9 per cent); Kory Clark, NDP, 7,502 (28.9 per cent); Deborah Friesen, OneBC, 1,621 (6.2 per cent).

Provincial (Elected or leading)

BC Conservatives, 64 seats; BC NDP, 27 seats; BC Greens, two seats. (Several seats were still too close to call.)

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, writes for the Kamloops Chronicle and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.