B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay charts populist course
Political analyst says Findlay won party race as "authentic champion" of populism. Her victory signals ideological shift for the party.
Kerry-Lynne Findlay's victory in the B.C. Conservative leadership race reflects the party's pivot toward populism, according to David Black, a political theory scholar at Royal Roads University in Greater Victoria.
Findlay defeated Caroline Elliott in the race, consolidating a faction defined by social and cultural conservatism. Black says Findlay didn't need to "perform" populism—unlike Elliott—because of her credentials serving under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and current federal leader Pierre Poilievre.
Findlay's acceptance speech included traditional right-of-centre themes like public safety and small business, but also what Black calls "populist coding"—references to eastern and global elites holding B.C. back. She promised a "grand vision of fundamental change."
Under Findlay, Black predicts the Conservatives will become a more ideological party than predecessors like BC United or the former B.C. Liberals. However, the near-victory by Elliott threw into sharp relief the divide between the party's moderate, right-of-centre wing and its populist faction. Findlay will need to work to unite both sides.