Nine Candidates Run To Become BC Conservative Party Leader
Photo Credit: Penticton Western News
After the BC Conservative’s slim defeat in the 2024 Provincial election and the resignation of leader John Rustad, the role of BC Conservative Party leader is up for grabs. As of Feb. 28, nine candidates are campaigning to become the party leader, with the vote set to happen on May 30.
Although the BC Conservative Party came very close to winning the 2024 provincial election, securing 44 seats, it was not enough to match the New Democratic Party’s (NDP’s) 47 seats, according to CTV News.
At the time, the Conservatives gained support after Kevin Falcon, the leader of the BC United Party (formerly known as the BC Liberals), withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed John Rustad and the BC Conservative Party. However, the conservatives would wind up losing the election, leading to the resignation of Rustad as leader in December 2025.
Since then, several contenders have thrown their hat in the ring to become the next party leader. According to a Feb. 28 news release from the BC Conservative Party, the nine official candidates include: Bruce Banman, Harman Bhangu, Iain Black, Caroline Elliott, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Yuri Fulmer, Warren Hamm, Darrell Jones and Peter Milobar.
The Vancouver Sun reports that each candidate is campaigning on similar issues like the economy, cost of living, public safety, and DRIPA. DRIPA, short for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, is the enabling legislation for the UN Declaration that sets out the rights of indigenous people around the world. Passed unanimously in 2019, DRIPA has become controversial amid concerns over the Act’s power to order the transfer of provincial land and resources to BC’s indigenous nations.
Notable candidates include former Save on Foods president Darrell Jones, former BC Liberal MLA Iain Black, businessman Yuri Fulmer, current Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar, and former Vice President of BC United Caroline Elliot.
Jones is the former president of the Pattison Food Group, which owns Save On Foods. According to Quesnel Cariboo Observer, at a gathering in Surrey on the day he announced his bid, he highlighted some problems in BC that he hopes to tackle in office.
He started by pointing to BC’s affordability crisis.“It’s not just housing, but it’s the pricing of everything from gas to coffee,” said Jones. “We all see that our province is one of the most expensive places to live on planet Earth, and yet our government seems blind to these problems.”
He also believes that crime and the justice system have been out of control under the NDP government, and wants to invest in police and the justice system. "Whether it's random assaults by daily shootings in the Lower Mainland or street disorder across BC, it's clear our province has failed to keep our people safe."
Finally, he called for DRIPA to be repealed. “Don’t get me wrong. Indigenous people are important, and it’s something that every person in British Columbia takes seriously, but we have created uncertainty for all British Columbians,” he said.
Iain Black, a former BC Liberal MLA from 2005 to 2011, focuses his campaign on lower taxes, helping small businesses, and less government intervention.
“There are many practical steps the government can take to support small businesses. I’ve done this work before in government, and I know how it can be done better,” Black said, as per his campaign website.
Yuri Fulmer is a businessman who wants the new conservative government to be run with a business mindset. Fulmer plans to focus on what he believes are the main issues for BC voters, and was very clear about leaving everything else out of his campaign.
“We need to coalesce the right of centre around a few issues that are really important to British Columbians [...] And to be honest, we’ve got to zip it on everything else,” Fulmer said in an interview with Business in Vancouver.
Similarly, Fulmer wants to campaign around cost of living, healthcare, the economy and public safety, while leaving social issues he deems unimportant to voters out of his campaign.
Peter Milobar is a former BC United Party member, former city councillor and mayor of Kamloops, and has the most experience in politics out of the ten candidates, with 24 years, according to Business in Vancouver.
Milobar wants to focus on health care, affordability, crime, property rights, and education, with his pitch being “a level of seriousness and focus to the bigger picture” and “not getting caught in the weeds of turning everything into the biggest event of the day based on a various tweet or meme,” as per Business in Vancouver.
Caroline Elliott is another former BC United Party member, having served as the Vice President of the BC United Party. Elliot wants to focus on more job creation, drug treatment, education, and supporting businesses.
Elliott attacked theNDP on several key issues like the economy, cost of living, DRIPA, the education system, public safety, and healthcare on her website. According to Business in Vancouver,she also believes her liberal past shouldn't be a factor when the conservatives decide their new leader, saying she wants to be “really clear on what our principles are, and making sure that anyone who agrees with those principles is absolutely welcome to join the party, regardless of their political past.”