B.C. Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigns after four months

Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned as B.C. Conservative leader Sunday, stepping back after just four months in the role as her party continues to fracture.

Findlay said in her resignation statement that she reached a moment where leadership required stepping aside. "There comes a moment when leadership requires you to consider not simply whether you can continue a fight, but whether continuing that fight serves the people and the cause you entered public life to serve. I have reached that moment," she said.

The resignation came hours after Surrey-Serpentine River MLA Linda Hepner quit the Conservative caucus on Sunday. Findlay had told attendees at the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference just days earlier that she intended to remain party leader. She had won her leadership race in May by just one percentage point, narrowly defeating Caroline Elliott.

The party has shed members steadily since the 2024 provincial election. Twenty Conservative members have left or been ousted since the party won seats in the 2024 election — the third-largest caucus, behind the NDP's majority government. In August, party president John Rustad was kicked out of caucus along with Trevor Halford and Claire Rattée. Ten MLAs left the Conservative caucus in one month's time.

Lorne Doerkson was recommended as interim leader. Findlay had said she would contest the Abbotsford-Mission riding byelection on September 26 for the Conservatives — a seat opened by Reann Gasper, who stepped down in August and was appointed Findlay's chief of staff.

Municipal elections are scheduled for October 17. At the UBCM conference, Premier David Eby announced he would drop a planned PST tax expansion and that BC Ferries' next generation ships would be built in B.C. instead of China.