Kerry-Lynne Findlay wins BC Conservative leadership on fourth ballot with 51%, narrowly beating Caroline Elliott

Kerry-Lynne Findlay was elected leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia on May 30, 2026, winning a tight four-round, points-based ranked ballot with 51% (4,696.51 points) to Caroline Elliott's 49% (4,514.49 points). More than 25,000 of roughly 42,000 party members (about 61.6% turnout) cast ballots in a field of five that also included Iain Black, Yuri Fulmer and Peter Milobar.

Findlay — a Surrey-based former federal Conservative MP and cabinet minister — takes over a party in turmoil: she succeeds interim leader Trevor Halford, who had stepped in after John Rustad resigned (and was effectively expelled) on December 4, 2025, following a caucus revolt in which the party board deemed him 'professionally incapacitated.' The BC Conservatives form the official opposition in the provincial legislature after their strong 2024 showing, so the contest determines who leads the principal challenger to David Eby's governing BC NDP. In her victory speech Findlay declared she was 'fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia,' and analysts noted her win is expected to pull the party further to the right.

The result is the only fully concluded party leadership contest in the coverage window, and a significant marker in Canadian provincial politics as Findlay must now reunite a fractured caucus.