The April 28 saw an upending across many ridings throughout B.C.
Of the 43 seats in the province, 20 have gone to the Liberals, 19 to the Conservatives, three to the New Democrats and one to the Greens. Of the 43 elected Members of Parliament, 23 are returning to Ottawa and 20 will be rookies.
Here are 10 notable results highlighting who is in and who is out:
NDP leader loses seat
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh received just 18.1 per cent of the popular vote in Burnaby Central and was decisively unseated by Liberal candidate Wade Chang, who got 42.1 per cent. Singh announced Monday evening he would resign as leader of the NDP.
Former Vancouver mayor elected
Gregor Robertson won a strong mandate in Vancouver-Fraserview, defeating the Conservatives 52.1 per cent to 35.9 per cent in the popular vote. Robertson was previously a one-term BC NDP MLA until 2008, when he became mayor of Vancouver with the Vision Vancouver slate. He left city hall in 2018.
Blue wave on Vancouver Island
Three seats on Vancouver Island previously held by the NDP flipped to the Conservatives: Nanaimo-Ladysmith, North Island-Powell River and Cowichan-Malahat-Langford. All the Conservative candidates received between 35-40 per cent of the popular vote. In North Island, Aaron Gunn won after being rejected in 2021 to run for leadership of the BC United (BC Liberal) provincial party.
Mysterious Conservative win in Abbotsford
In Abbotsford-South Langley the Conservatives held onto their seat despite some controversy when longtime BC Liberal MLA Mike de Jong was rejected as a candidate for the relatively unknown Sukhman Gill. De Jong said he was not told by the riding association why he was rejected, and suggested on social media that his own polling indicated he was leading the race. In the end Gill picked up 43.1 per cent of the vote, the Liberals got 33.9 per cent and de Jong finished in third with 17.4 per cent (a relatively strong independent result).
Green leader remains on islands
Green Party of Canada co-leader Elizabeth May heads back to Ottawa after her fifth straight win in Saanich-Gulf Islands with 38.8 per cent of the popular vote. She has represented the riding since 2011.
Time’s up for NDP stalwart Peter Julian
Longtime NDP MP Peter Julian could not convert an eighth election win in New Westminster-Burnaby, losing a tight three-way race to the Liberals, who only got 35.1 per cent of the popular vote.
Biggest landslide and tightest races
The largest victory margin went to Conservative incumbent Bob Zimmer, who fetched 70.9 per cent of the popular vote in Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies. In Kelowna, Liberal Stephen Fuhr took the riding with the slimmest margin — 235 votes — with 47.8 per cent and 26,428 votes to the Conservative’s Tracy Gray at 47.3 per cent and 26,193 votes. Meanwhile in Vancouver—Kingsway longtime NDP MP Don Davies held off the Liberals by just 310 votes.
Two MP veterans clashed
Langley Township-Fraser Height residents had their pick of two candidates who had already been to Ottawa: Conservative Tako Van Popta and Liberal John Aldag. Van Popta took the seat with 51.5 per cent of the vote to 42.3 per cent for Aldag, who is fresh off an electoral loss in last year’s provincial election as a BC NDP candidate.
Liberals hold Surrey
Liberals won in all three ridings that are fully in Surrey and also took Surrey—White Rock by defeating incumbent veteran Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Incumbent Liberals Sukh Dhaliwal and Randeep Sarai won their seats again while retiring Liberal MP Ken Hardie was replaced by Gurbux Saini. Previously elected Conservatives Tako Van Popta and Tamara Jansen won seats that include both Surrey and Langley.
Three cities face likely by-elections
In White Rock, city Coun. Ernie Klassen was elected as a Liberal MP, while Richmond city Coun. Chak Au was voted in as a Conservative MP, sparking likely by-elections at their respective city halls. Additionally, Liberal Zoe Royer was elected in Port Moody—Coquitlam while sitting as a member of the Coquitlam school board.
