B.C.’s United Party has suspended its campaigning for the upcoming provincial election and thrown its support behind the Conservative Party of BC, which has been surging in polls in recent months.
United Party Leader Kevin Falcon, who said he will not seek re-election, said he was making the move to ensure a win against the NDP.
“There is nothing more important to me, my children, and your children and grandchildren, that we not give the NDP one more day in power than they absolutely have to have, and that’s why I made the decision that I made as leader of BC United to suspend our campaign.”
Falcon said he believed it was in the best interest of the province, and would avoid splitting the centre-right vote between the two parties.
He noted that the board of directors of his party endorsed his decision.
“I’m at peace with the decision because I think this is the right thing for British Columbia. It is the right thing for my children’s generation to get a new government that is going to focus on getting different results,” he said during the conference.
BC United Party candidates will be withdrawn from nominations, allowing candidates to cross over to the provincial Conservative Party, according to a Conservative Party news release.
For its part of the agreement between the parties, the Conservatives said they would vet candidates to develop the strongest team for the upcoming election. The B.C. election is scheduled for Oct. 19.
Conservative Leader John Rustad said he applauded Falcon’s decision.
“I’ve known Kevin Falcon for 20 years, and while we haven’t always seen eye to eye, we both know there is too much at stake to let past disagreements get in the way of defeating [NDP Leader and Premier] David Eby and the radical NDP,” Rustad said in the news release. “I’ve never doubted Kevin Falcon’s commitment to our province, and today, I applaud his decision to put B.C. first, as he’s done throughout his career.”
The two leaders had said in May that previous efforts to merge the two had not met with success.
Eby said at the time that “powerful interests” are trying to “arrange a marriage of convenience” between the two partes.
“Well, I’ve got a message for these lobbyists and John Rustad and [BC United Leader] Kevin Falcon: The next election will be decided at the kitchen table, not the boardroom table,” Eby said.
Reacting to the news of the merger on Aug. 28, Eby said he will be focusing on “what matters to you—building more homes you can afford, lowering your costs, and strengthening your health care.”
The Rise of BC Conservatives
The Conservative Party in B.C. was re-branded by Aaron Gunn in 2022. He made the move after a committee prevented him from running for leadership of the BC United Party, then called the BC Liberals, in 2021 over social media comments.Rustad, who had been sitting as an independent after Falcon removed him from the BC Liberal Party, joined the Conservatives in February 2023. Rustad was kicked out after social media comments he shared that said carbon dioxide is an essential element of life rather than a catalyst for climate change. At the time, Falcon said that the comments did not represent the party’s position on climate change.
In March 2023, Rustad became the leader of the Conservative Party.
The party has been steadily rising in the polls in recent months, with some polls even showing them surpassing the governing NDP, while the BC United, currently the Official Opposition, has been falling sharply, with some polls even showing them below the B.C. Greens.
Several BC United Party MLAs have defected to join the Conservatives in recent months.
