B.C. Election: Conservatives Win Majority With 64 Seats as Eby Resigns

British Columbia's Conservatives won a majority government in the province's snap election on Saturday, October 24, 2026, ending nine years of NDP rule. With 99.44% of ballot boxes reporting, Elections BC's preliminary count showed the party leading or elected in 64 of 93 ridings, well past the 47 needed for a majority.

Premier David Eby, who called the vote two years early, conceded on election night and resigned as NDP leader. Interim Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson, who took over a party in open revolt only about five weeks ago, is now premier-designate.

The result matters beyond B.C. It comes during a trade fight with the United States that Eby cited when calling the vote, and it brings in a platform built on tax cuts, faster resource permits, more natural gas exports and the repeal of the province's Indigenous rights law.

Key facts at a glance

• Seats (preliminary): Conservatives 64, NDP 27, Greens 2, according to Elections BC.
• Popular vote: Conservatives 48.06%, NDP 37.37%, Greens 10.97%.
• History: it is the first majority for a party under the Conservative banner in B.C. since 1928.
• Leadership: Eby resigned as NDP leader but held his Vancouver-Point Grey seat by 538 votes.
• Not final yet: mail-in and some absentee ballots are counted about two weeks after election day, and Elections BC lists the final count for November 6, 2026.

How a party in crisis ended up in government

The turnaround was fast. In mid-September, then-leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned after a caucus revolt. Leaked audio and the hiring of a private investigator to track down leakers led to 13 MLAs leaving or being expelled from the caucus.

Doerkson, a little-known MLA from Cariboo-Chilcotin, became interim leader on September 20. Two days later, Eby called the election. Eby held a one-seat majority at the time and said the legislature had stalled and that the province needed a stronger mandate to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.

Opponents saw the timing as an attempt to exploit Conservative chaos. Instead, Doerkson's appointment stopped the near-daily defections and reunited much of the right-of-centre vote. His rise from backbencher to premier-elect in under five weeks ranks as one of the fastest successful ascents to power by general election in Canadian history.

The scale of the swing is clear when set against the last election, two years ago.

Where the Conservatives won, and the races to watch

The decisive gains came in the Lower Mainland. The party stood to flip up to 13 seats from the NDP there, including Vancouver-Langara, Richmond-Steveston, Port Moody-Burquitlam and two seats in Coquitlam. The Conservatives also led in all 10 Surrey ridings, a city Doerkson described in his victory speech as "on its way to becoming the biggest city in our province."

Two smaller-party leaders lost their seats to Conservatives. OneBC leader Dallas Brodie was beaten in Vancouver-Quilchena by Carson Binda, and CentreBC leader Elenore Sturko lost Surrey South to Megan Knight, according to projections. Green leader Emily Lowan won her first seat, Saanich North and the Islands.

Some results could still move. The Conservative lead in Kelowna Centre was just 42 votes on election night, and close ridings may change once vote-by-mail ballots are added.

Turnout was weak. Elections BC's preliminary turnout stood at 47.97% of 3,738,182 registered voters. The previous record low for a B.C. provincial election was 53.86% in 2020, and advance voting was down 11% from 2024. Eby's decision to hold the vote at the same time as municipal elections was a recurring complaint during the campaign.

What the new government has promised

Doerkson used his victory speech to promise a tax cut and tax freeze, faster mining permits and a doubling of natural gas production by 2032. "We will cut red tape like it's never been cut before," he said.

The detailed platform includes:

• Income tax: raising the basic personal exemption from $13,216 to $32,000, estimated as a cut of about $1,000 for most workers.
• Energy and permits: doubling liquefied natural gas (LNG) output by 2032 and tripling it by 2035, a 120-day permitting law for projects worth more than $250 million, and repeal of the CleanBC climate plan.
• Housing: cutting construction taxes and charges and approving homes faster, while keeping the foreign buyers tax and the speculation and vacancy tax.
• Infrastructure and health: a 10-lane bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel, a SkyTrain extension to Newton, a Surrey women's and children's hospital and a $50-million rural health emergency fund.
• Social policy: ending the SOGI 123 sexual orientation and gender identity resource in schools and raising disability assistance by $100 a month.

The numbers will be tested quickly. B.C. faces a projected deficit of $13.8 billion, and the plan relies on a 3.2% economic growth forecast that critics called optimistic. None of the promises takes effect until the government is sworn in and passes legislation or a budget.

The fight over Indigenous rights law

The most contested pledge is repealing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, known as DRIPA. The law passed unanimously in 2019 and makes the UN declaration the province's framework for reconciliation. Repeal is the party's top priority.

At the October 14 leaders' debate, Doerkson said "the reality is that DRIPA has to be repealed," arguing that private property and existing land tenures must be protected. Concerns grew after court rulings including the Cowichan (Quw'utsun) Nation title case, which covered about 300 hectares in Richmond.

Supporters of the law see repeal very differently. Lowan said at the same debate that "DRIPA has no bearing on private property." Merle Alexander, a lawyer who helped co-draft the act, said that it was meant to reduce litigation over time and that "the legislation was created by the basic admission that what we were doing wasn't working." Expect First Nations leaders and possibly the courts to be central to how this plays out.

What it means for you

For B.C. residents, the first changes you are likely to see are in taxes and permits, but not before a budget. If the exemption rises to $32,000, most workers would pay roughly $1,000 less in provincial income tax a year, by one estimate. Homeowners and buyers should note the party said it would keep the foreign buyers tax and the speculation and vacancy tax.

For workers and investors in energy, mining and construction, the LNG targets and 120-day permit promise point to more project approvals. At the same time, the DRIPA repeal could bring legal challenges that slow some of those same projects.

For the rest of Canada and trading partners in the U.S., UK and Australia, the new government wants more exports through towns like Kitimat, "where B.C. natural gas leaves to power the world," as Doerkson put it in his speech. Prime Minister Mark Carney congratulated Doerkson and said he looks forward to working with him on housing and energy.

Another perspective

Not everyone reads the result as a broad endorsement. Preliminary turnout below 48% means fewer than half of registered voters had a ballot counted on election night. Eby took responsibility, saying the loss "breaks my heart, and I accept full responsibility for that outcome," while Lowan told supporters there was a "heaviness" in her heart over the Conservative win.

There are also questions inside the winning party. Its constitution bars an interim leader from running for the permanent job, and changing it needs a two-thirds vote of members. Party president Mauro Francis said the board would do whatever is necessary to keep Doerkson as premier.

What happens next

• November 6, 2026: Elections BC's final count, including vote-by-mail ballots. Close seats such as Kelowna Centre could change.
• Swearing-in and cabinet: no date had been announced as of election night.
• NDP leadership: the party must decide how to choose an interim or permanent leader after Eby's resignation.
• Conservative leadership rules: a members' vote would be needed to let Doerkson stay on as permanent leader.
• First legislation: watch for the tax changes and the DRIPA repeal bill, which will need a sitting of the legislature.

Conclusion

B.C. has moved from a one-seat NDP majority to a large Conservative majority in a single snap election, with a party that was close to collapse in September now in charge. The final count is still to come, but a 64-seat lead is far beyond the 47 needed.

What to do now:

1. Check your own riding on the Elections BC results site, especially if you live in a close seat, and look again after the November 6 final count.
2. Hold off on financial decisions based on the tax pledge until a budget sets the new exemption and its start date.
3. If you work in resources, construction or with First Nations partners, follow the first legislative sitting and the DRIPA bill closely, since both will shape permits and timelines.
4. Watch who Doerkson names to cabinet, which will signal how quickly the platform moves.