The Conservative Party of British Columbia is a provincial

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. In the early half of the 20th century, the Conservatives competed with the

British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia genera ...

for power in the province. Since the 1950s however, the party has had only a minor presence, not having elected a

member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(or MLA) in a general election since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. The last sitting MLA for the Conservatives was

John van Dongen John van Dongen (born December 13, 1949) is a Canadian politician who formerly served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the riding of Abbotsford South. At one time, van Dongen was one of the longest servi ...

, who briefly

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to the party in 2012 before leaving to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Three Conservative leaders have served as

Premier of British Columbia Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Richard McBride Sir Richard McBride, (December 15, 1870 – August 6, 1917) was a British Columbia politician and is often considered the founder of the British Columbia Conservative Party. McBride was first elected to the provincial legislature in the 1898 ...

William John Bowser William John Bowser ( Rexton, New Brunswick December 3, 1867 – October 25, 1933 Vancouver) was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. He served as the 17th premier of British Columbia from 1915 to 1916. The son of William Bowser and Marg ...

, and

Simon Fraser Tolmie Simon Fraser Tolmie, (January 25, 1867 – October 13, 1937) was a veterinarian, farmer, politician, and the 21st premier of British Columbia, Canada. Early life Tolmie had a pioneer lineage, which aided him in his political aspirations ...

. Two Conservatives have served as

Deputy Premier A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

, both during a

coalition government A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...

in the 1940s:

Royal Maitland Royal Lethington (Pat) Maitland (January 9, 1889 – March 28, 1946) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as Deputy Premier and the Attorney General of British Columbia in the coalition government of Premier John Hart. He als ...

and

Herbert Anscomb Herbert Bertie Anscomb (February 23, 1892 – November 12, 1972) was a Conservative politician and British Columbia cabinet minister. He was born in England and moved to Canada in 1911. He settled in Victoria, British Columbia where he found w ...

. The current party leader is Trevor Bolin.

Early history

Founding and early years

The Conservative Party of British Columbia, known colloquially as the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

, were formed in 1900 as the Liberal-Conservative Party. The party selected Charles Wilson as its first provincial leader. Several opposition

faction Faction or factionalism may refer to: Politics * Political faction, a group of people with a common political purpose * Free and Independent Faction, a Romanian political party * Faction (''Planescape''), a political faction in the game ''Planes ...

s contested the 1900 general election against the non-partisan government, but these were generally loose groups. In 1902, the Conservative Party convention passed a resolution to stand candidates in the next election. Party government was introduced on June 1, 1903 by Premier

, when he announced the formation of an officially Conservative government. McBride believed that the system of non-partisan government that the province had until that point was unstable and inhibiting development. His Conservatives won the 1903 election, the first fought on the

party system A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stab ...

, earning a two-seat

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterBritish Columbia Legislative Assembly over their rivals, the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, as well as various

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MLAs. The Conservatives generally implemented policies mirroring the priorities of the national

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, which at the time favoured government intervention to help develop industry and infrastructure. The Conservatives under McBride and his successor,

, held power for thirteen years until they were defeated by the Liberals in the 1916 election. In November 1926 the Liberal-Conservative Party formally changed its name to the Conservative Party.

Tolmie government and crisis

The Tories returned to power in the 1928 election under the leadership of

, winning 35 of 48 seats in the Legislature. The Tolmie government was unable to deal with the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and was wracked by infighting and indecision. The party was in such disarray that, despite being in power, the Conservative provincial association decided not to run any candidates in the 1933 election. Instead each local association was left to act on its own, endorsing some candidates who ran as Independents, some as Independent Conservatives, and so on. Those supporting Premier Tolmie ran under the 'Unionist' label, while others grouped around former premier

and ran as part of the 'Non-Partisan Independent Group'. When Bowser died and the elections in Vancouver Centre and Victoria City were postponed, four Non-partisan and two Unionist candidates withdrew. The Conservative Party rebounded under Frank Porter Patterson to run a near-full slate in the election of 1937, however they were only able to elect 8 MLAS, just one more than the growing Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) caucus. In the election of 1941, the Conservatives were able to win 12 seats, compared to 21 for the Liberals and 14 for the CCF. Members of the province's business community, who feared the growing strength of the

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

CCF, urged the Liberals and Conservatives to form a wartime

to ensure stability. Then-Conservative leader

agreed, while then-Liberal Premier T.D. Pattullo was opposed; however, Pattullo was forced to resign by his own party in late 1941. John Hart replaced him as Liberal leader and premier on the promise to form a coalition, and did so, making Maitland Deputy Premier and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

shortly thereafter.

Coalition years

In 1942, the BC Conservatives were rebranded as the "BC Progressive Conservative Party", following the federal party's lead. Maitland and Hart served throughout the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and continued their partnership past, running a joint ticket in the 1945 election, winning a massive majority government together of 37 out of 48 seats. However, Maitland died suddenly in 1946 and was replaced by

, who became Deputy Premier and Finance Minister in the coalition government.Hans J. Michelmann, David E. Smith, Cristine De Clercy
Continuity And Change in Canadian Politics: Essays in Honour of David E. Smith
', University of Toronto Press (2006), page 184 When Premier Hart retired in 1947, the Conservatives pushed for Anscomb to succeed him as Premier, but the Liberals, who had more members in the coalition caucus, insisted that the role remain with a Liberal. Byron Johnson was appointed Premier a short time later, but the conflict strained relations between the two parties and leaders going forward, and caused internal divisions to open up within the Tories. The PCs were riven into three factions: one led by

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

MLA

W.A.C. Bennett William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadian politician. He was the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-serving prem ...

, who called for Liberals and Tories to fuse into a single party, a second faction that supported the status-quo, and a third that wanted Anscomb to simply lead the PCs out of the coalition. Meanwhile, the Liberals were beginning to doubt that they needed the fractious Tories to govern. The coalition was re-elected in the 1949 election, winning 39 seats against nine for the CCF opposition, but despite this, growing divisions within the Conservative Party resulted in Anscomb's leadership being challenged at the 1950 party convention. W.A.C. Bennett, who had moved over to the anti-coalition faction, quit the party and

to sit as a Social Credit League of British Columbia member, and eventually formed the

British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

. In October 1951, the Liberals decided to dissolve the coalition, with Johnson summarily dismissing his PC ministers, including Anscomb, and continued forward as a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

. The Conservatives properly refounded their party and went into the 1952 election with the goal of unseating Premier Johnson.

Decline

Prior to the 1952 election, the coalition government, whose entire reason for being had been to keep the CCF out of power, introduced an

instant-runoff voting Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...

system. The idea behind the change was an assumption that the business-oriented majority of BC voters would keep the democratic socialist party out of power through their secondary choices, regardless of the newly formed split between former coalition partner. However, none of the three parties expected the result of the election. The Social Credit League, led by Albertan

Ernest George Hansell Ernest George Hansell (14 May 1895 in Norwich, England – 9 December 1965) was an ordained minister as well as a Canadian federal and provincial politician. Federal politics Hansell ran as a Social Credit Party of Canada, Social Credit candidat ...

, won the most seats, while the two former coalition partners fell far behind. The PCs won only 4 seats total, not including Anscomb's

Oak Bay Oak Bay is a municipality incorporated in 1906 that is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is one of thirteen member municipalities of the Capital Regional District, and is bordered ...

constituency. Two months later, former Tory

would take control of the SoCreds, dropping the party's

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return t ...

policy in favour of traditional and populist conservative platforms. It was clear to those who wanted to keep the CCF out of power that only the SoCreds would be able to accomplish that task, and so business-oriented voters left the old parties behind. Having a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

following 1953, the Social Credit government changed the electoral system back to

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

in order to cement its base. Social Credit became, in effect, the new centre-right coalition party, and both the Liberals and the Tories became marginalised.

Wilderness years

Between the 1956 and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

elections, the Tories won no seats to the Legislature, and slowly the party began to dwindle downward.

Deane Finlayson Douglas Deane Finlayson (1919–2005) was a British Columbia politician and land developer."Hundreds remember Finlayson", ''Nanaimo Daily News'', June 2, 2005 Though he was unable to win a seat in the 1952 provincial election, he became leader ...

served as leader from 1952 until 1961, eventually handing the reigns to federal

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Davie Fulton Edmund Davie Fulton, (March 10, 1916 – May 22, 2000) was a Canadian Rhodes Scholar, politician and judge. He was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, the son of politician/lawyer Frederick John Fulton and Winnifred M. Davie, daughter of ...

. Fulton led the party to a brief surge of relevance in the 1963 election, winning 11% support, but no seats, with even Fulton falling far behind his SoCred opponent in the Kamloops constituency. Fulton left soon after, returning to federal politics while the BC Tories collapsed into ruin. The Party ran only 3 candidates in 1966, and just one, then-party leader

John de Wolf Johannes Hildebrand de Wolf (born 10 December 1962) is a Dutch former professional footballer, who played as a defender. He earned six caps for the Dutch national team, scoring two goals. Career Club De Wolf was born in Schiedam. He began ...

in 1969. It was not until 1971, following de Wolf's ouster as leader by Derrill Thomas Warren, that some hope returned. In 1971, former SoCred MLA Scott Wallace, who represented

to join the PCs, becoming its first MLA in 15 years. The attention translated into nearly 13% of the vote in the 1972 election and two seats – Wallace's and

Hugh Curtis Hugh Austin Curtis (October 3, 1932 – May 27, 2014) was a sales manager and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Saanich and the Islands in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1972 to 1986 as a Progressive Conse ...

in Saanich and the Islands, both in the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

area. Warren was unable to win his own seat. The election was won by the CCF's successor party, the

New Democrats New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

(or NDP), who took advantage of the split between the SoCreds, Tories, and resurgent Liberals to form a majority government. This glimpse at relevance did not last long, however. Wallace was elected leader of the party in 1973, but in the same year his caucus mate Curtis left to join the Social Credit caucus, answering a call by new leader

Bill Bennett William Richards Bennett, (April 14, 1932 – December 3, 2015) was the 27th premier of British Columbia from 1975 to 1986. He was a son of Annie Elizabeth May (Richards) and former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed ...

to reunite the 'pro-business' vote. Wallace was able to win his own seat in the 1975 election, but resigned in 1977 and returned to his medical practice shortly after. During this time, with most of their voters in BC supporting Social Credit, the federal Progressive Conservative Party kept its distance in order to avoid alienating Social Credit Party supporters. When the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

and provincial election campaigns overlapped in 1979, federal leader

Joe Clark Charles Joseph Clark (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980. Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal polit ...

made obvious efforts to avoid any contact with Vic Stephens, leader of the provincial PCs. Wallace's successor in

and the party leadership was the last Tory MLA to be elected. Vic Stephens won the seat in a 1978

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

, but lost in the following year's general election campaign. The Tories returned to the wilderness in the following years, despite the amazing growth of the federal party during the 1980s. For a brief stint in 1986, former NDP MLA

Graham Lea Graham Richard Lea (March 6, 1934 – April 3, 2013) was a broadcaster, politician and corporate leader in British Columbia. He represented Prince Rupert in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1972 to 1986 as a New Democratic Part ...

crossed the floor to sit as a PC MLA, but quit politics altogether following the dissolution of the Legislature for the 1986 election. In 1991, the party changed its name back to the "BC Conservative Party", but was unable to gain traction during the collapse of the SoCred government in the 1991 election and the subsequent re-alignment of BC politics. The party ran only a handful of candidates between 1991 and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, as the pro-business voters of the province moved en masse to the

BC Liberals The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...

Recent history

Re-emergence

In 2005, former BC Reform Party and Christian Heritage Party leader

Wilf Hanni Wilf Hanni is a politician and oil industry consultant in British Columbia, Canada. Hanni served as leader of the Reform Party of BC from August 30, 1997 to June 1998, and later as leader of the British Columbia Party, and the BC Conservative P ...

was elected leader of the Conservatives. The party was able to field 24 candidates for the 2009 election, its highest number since 1979, and earned 2.1% of the vote province-wide. The re-emergence of the party, despite not coming close to winning any seats, sparked renewed interest in the Conservatives, who began to poll between 5–10% in polls.

New leadership and the 2013 election

At its annual general meeting on September 26, 2009, the party elected a new executive and re-elected Wayne McGrath as president. In 2010, the party formed an advisory committee that included, chairman Randy White, Brian Peckford,

Rita Johnston Rita Margaret Johnston (born April 22, 1935; née Leichert) is a Canadian politician in British Columbia. Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th premier of Brit ...

, Jim Hart and John Cummins. At the end of 2010, the party had the support of 8% of votes according to opinion polls, had approximately 2,000 members, up from 300 in June of that year, and had constituency associations established in 45 of the province's 85 ridings. Several months after the election of

Christy Clark Christina Joan Clark (born October 29, 1965) is a former Canadian politician who was the 35th premier of British Columbia (BC), from 2011 to 2017. Clark was the second woman to be premier of BC, after Rita Johnston in 1991, and the first female ...

as leader of the Liberal Party, and her subsequent swearing in as Premier, the Conservatives' support rose again at the expense of the Liberals. According to

Kevin Falcon Kevin Falcon (born 1963) is a Canadian financial executive and a provincial politician who is the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party as of 2022, and the Leader of the Opposition as of May 2022. He is the member of the Legislative Assem ...

, runner-up in the Liberal leadership convention, "a number of my supporters that may have done that and I'm not entirely surprised." The party held a leadership convention on May 28, 2011, and former

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

Member of Parliament John Cummins was acclaimed leader. After dropping into single digits after Liberal premier Gordon Campbell's resignation in March 2011, the Conservatives consistently polled above 10 per cent in the last half of 2011, reaching as high as 23 per cent. On March 26, 2012, Abbotsford South MLA

announced that he was leaving the

to join the BC Conservatives, providing the party with its first representative in the Legislative Assembly since 1986. In September 2012, John van Dongen switched to independent status after the re-election of John Cummins as leader of the BC Conservative Party. In the run-up to the 2013 election, Cummins had repeatedly stated his hope to run a full slate of candidates, but the party was only able to field 56 candidates out of a total possible 85. Nevertheless, with high polling and the capability to form a major caucus within the Legislature if elected, Cummins was invited to join the leaders of the Liberals, NDP, and Greens on-stage for the provincial debates. Despite high hopes, the Conservatives received only 4.76% of the vote and were unable to elect a MLA during the election. The party's strongest result was in

Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace R ...

, where their candidate Kurt Peats came in second place with 27.2% of the vote; all other candidates came in third place or worse. Cummins, previously a federal MP in the area for nearly two decades, was only able to earn 11.9% support in the

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

constituency.

2013–2020

On July 18, 2013, John Cummins resigned from the position of party leader. Dan Brooks was elected the new leader of the party on April 12, 2014, then resigned at the party's Annual General Meeting on February 20, 2016. Brooks was re-elected as leader at a leadership convention held on September 17, 2016. However, on October 28, 2016, the party's executive board removed him from the leadership after ruling that the meeting that approved his candidacy for the leadership convention lacked quorum. The party was not able to select a new leader before the start of the 2017 election campaign. After nominating 56 candidates in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and earning almost five percent of the vote, the Conservatives entered the campaign for the 2017 provincial election without a leader. It nominated ten candidates, none of whom was elected. Even without a leader, the party still managed an average of more than a thousand votes per riding contested, with no candidate receiving less than two percent of the vote. Leah Catherine McCulloch received the highest vote share of all the Conservative candidates, at 7.55 percent in the riding of Courtenay-Comox. In September 2017, following the party's AGM, Scott Anderson, a Vernon city councillor, was appointed interim leader by a unanimous vote of the newly elected board. Anderson oversaw the reformation of several defunct riding associations and an increase in membership, and took the party through the

Kelowna West Kelowna West, formerly Westside-Kelowna, is a provincial electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, established by the ''Electoral Districts Act, 2008''. It was first contested in the 2009 general election. The riding was created out of pa ...

and

Nanaimo Nanaimo ( ) is a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, it had a population of 99,863, and it is known as "The Harbour City." The city was previously known as the "H ...

by-elections. Fort St. John city councillor Trevor Bolin became the party's permanent leader on April 8, 2019. The party changed its name to the "Conservative Party of British Columbia" prior to the 2020 general election.

Ideology

The Conservative Party of British Columbia describes itself as conservative, economically liberal, and populist. In a March 2017 interview, the party's communications director John Twigg compared his party's populist and anti-establishment rhetoric with that of the

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

movement and supporters of the

Trump presidency Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

: The party advocates the growth of British Columbia's fossil fuel and lumber industries. In particular, it opposes the provincial carbon tax and proposes that

environmental activists The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advo ...

and their supporters be arrested for "illegal activities". The party also opposes

vaccine mandate A vaccination policy is a health policy adopted in order to prevent the spread of infectious disease. These policies are generally put into place by State or local governments, but may also be set by private facilities, such as workplaces or s ...

s and

passports A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

identity politics Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...

and "

gender ideology The anti-gender movement is an international movement which opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology", " gender theory" or "genderism". The concepts cover a variety of issues and have no coherent definition. Members of the anti-gender mov ...

", and safe injection sites for drug abusers. Regarding the latter, the party proposes that drug abusers be involuntarily committed to

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

centers.

Leaders

* Charles Wilson, March 1900 – 1903Legislative Library of British Columbia,
Party Leaders in British Columbia 1900–
', 2000, updated 2005 *

, 1903 – December 1915 *

, December 1915 – August 1924 *

Robert Henry Pooley Robert Henry Pooley (September 19, 1878 – June 23, 1954) was a Canandian lawyer and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Esquimalt from 1912 to 1937 as a Conservative. Pooley was interim leader of the party from August 192 ...

, August 1924 – November 1926 (interim) *

, November 1926 – May 1936 *

Frank Porter Patterson Frank Porter Patterson (December 24, 1876 – February 10, 1938) was a physician and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Dewdney in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1937 to 1938 as a Conservative. Patterson ...

, May – July 1936 (interim), July 1936 – 10 February 1938 *

Royal Lethington Maitland Royal Lethington (Pat) Maitland (January 9, 1889 – March 28, 1946) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as Deputy Premier and the Attorney General of British Columbia in the coalition government of Premier John Hart. He a ...

, September 1938 – 28 March 1946 *

, April 1946 – November 1952 *

, November 1952 – April 1961 * ''vacant'', April 1961 – January 1963 *

, January 1963 – April 1965 * ''vacant'', April 1965 – June 1969 *

John Anthony St. Etienne de Wolf John Anthony St. Etienne de Wolf (ca. 1931 – May 28, 2003) was a journalist, economist and politician in British Columbia, Canada. He served as leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party from 1969 to 1971. De Wolf was a special adv ...

, June 1969 – November 1971 * Derril Thomas Warren, November 1971 – December 1973 *

George Scott Wallace George Scott Wallace (9 August 1929 – 15 October 2011) was a British Columbia physician and politician. Wallace was born in Leven, Fife, Scotland, and attended the Edinburgh University Medical School from 1947 to 1952. Wallace came to C ...

, December 1973 – October 1977 *

Victor Albert Stephens Victor Albert Stephens (born 1931) is a Canadian former politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columb ...

, October 1977 – November 1980 *

Brian Westwood Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

, November 1980 – March 1985 *

Peter Pollen Peter Pollen (October 26, 1927 – January 3, 2017) was a Canadian politician from British Columbia who was the mayor of Victoria, B.C. from 1971 to 1975 and from 1981 to 1985. He was raised in Saskatchewan and Ontario and came to Victoria a ...

, March 1985 – August 1986 * ''vacant'', August 1986 – July 1991 *

Peter B. Macdonald Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, July 1991 – March 1997 * David Maurice Mercier, March 1997 – January 2001 * Susan Power, January 2001 – 2003 *

Kenneth Edgar King Kenneth is an English given name and surname. The name is an Anglicised form of two entirely different Gaelic personal names: ''Cainnech'' and '' Cináed''. The modern Gaelic form of ''Cainnech'' is ''Coinneach''; the name was derived from a byna ...

, 2003–2004 * Barry Edward Chilton, 2004 – September 2005 *

, September 2005 – June 2009 * ''vacant'', June 2009 – May 2011 * John Cummins, May 2011 – July 18, 2013 * ''vacant'', July 18, 2013 – April 12, 2014 * Dan Brooks, April 12, 2014 – February 20, 2016 * ''vacant'', February 20, 2016 – September 17, 2016 * Dan Brooks, September 17, 2016 – October 28, 2016 * ''vacant'', October 28, 2016 – October 4, 2017 * Scott Anderson, October 4, 2017 – April 8, 2019 * Trevor Bolin, April 8, 2019 – present

Election results

Notes

References

B.C. Conservative Leader John Cummins resigns

External links

* {{Canadian Conservative Parties

Campbell River, British Columbia Conservative parties in Canada Political parties established in 1903