LIVE BLOG: Updates from the B.C. Conservative leadership convention

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This live blog is now closed. Further coverage can be found here.

7:01: p.m.:

Kerry Lynne Findlay is the next B.C. Conservative leader with 51 per cent of the vote.

Caroline Elliott came in second with 49 per cent.

The result sent shockwaves through the crowd, with some audible gasps heard and some people walking out before the candidate took the stage. But there were simultaneous chants of KERRY! KERRY! that drowned out the gasps.

Findlay took the stage shortly after the result was announced.

6:53 p.m.:

Iain Black is out with 30 per cent of the vote.

Kerry-Lynne Findlay is still in the lead with 38.6 per cent. Caroline Elliott in second with 31.3 per cent.

6:45 p.m.:

Second round is in: Yuri Fulmer is eliminated with 13.9 per cent of the vote.

Kerry-Lynne Findlay is still in the lead with 32.2 per cent. Caroline Elliott is second with 28.6 per cent and Iain Black is third with 25.3 per cent.

On to round three.

6:36 p.m.:

The leader after the first vote is Kerry-Lynne Findlay with 30.5 per cent.

First to be eliminated is Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar with 10.5 per cent of the vote.

Second place is Caroline Elliott with 25.8 per cent. Iain Black is in third with 20.3 per cent. And Yuri Fulmer is in fourth with 13 per cent.

On to round two.

6:21 p.m.:

It was just announced that vote counting has begun.

6:10 p.m.:

Party returning officer Sacha Peter took the stage to explain the counting process and assured members that the votes had been kept in a secure box and no one had yet seen the ballots. Access is logged and audited.

“This will be the first time that your votes cast in a secret ballot will be tabulated,” he said.

Scrutineers from the campaigns will be present when the counts are conducted.

He also gave the final member counts. By the April 18 cutoff, 41,718 members had joined up and were eligible to verify their identity. Of those, 26,273 did so by the cutoff at the end of the day on May 2o.

About two-thirds were verified without human review, while roughly 9,000 had to be manually adjudicated.

The final total vote count was 25,695, roughly equal to 98 per cent of verified members.

5:58 p.m.:

Interim Leader Trevor Halford opened his speech by honouring former leader John Rustad, who helped build the party to what it is now, but stepped down in December amid division and infighting.

“He didn’t step back, he stepped forward, and he put his party first, and he put this province first,” Halford said.

Halford also urged unity, seeming to acknowledge the division that led to Rustad stepping down and the animosity between the campaigns and their supporters during the leadership contest.

“We’re going to leave here as Conservatives, and we will leave here unified,” he said.

5:43 p.m.:

Former B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad told Black Press Media he’s excited about tonight, adding the B.C. Conservatives have a solid lead over the B.C. NDP.

Rustad, who has put his support behind Iain Black, said the Conservatives are positioned to win this next election. The last time he was in this room was in the 2024 provincial election.

“I actually haven’t even really thought about that, or reflected back on that,” he said. “I look around, and I think it’s great. We’ve got, you know, a packed crowd that is here, they’re excited, everybody’s nervous because they all have a horse in the race, they’re wondering how it’s going to turn out.”

5:36 p.m.:

Events began with Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman singing O Canada, before B.C. Conservative Party President Aisha Estey took the stage and urged unity.

“The moment the result is announced, the contest ends, and the work of building a government-in-waiting continues,” Estey said. “And that is the door we walk through tonight, and we walk through it together, not as factions and not as camps, but as one party who will defeat the NDP.”

5:18 p.m.:

Candidates are starting to arrive and mingle with sitting MLAs and party members. So far, Peter Milobar and Iain Black have been spotted.

4:35 p.m.:

Lines are forming to get into the Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver. Events are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Each candidate has a section for their campaign in the audience.

Interim B.C. Conservative Leader Trevor Halford is already on site, coming over to greet members of the media as they set up.

Original Story:

The Conservative Party of B.C. is gathering in Vancouver this evening to choose a new leader.

Events are scheduled to begin at 4:30, with vote-counting getting underway shortly after 6 p.m.

Black Press Media will be on site alongside candidates, supporters and party staff to provide coverage throughout the evening.

Events are set to begin with “something special” planned to honour interim Leader Trevor Halford before an independent auditor takes the stage to explain the process. Party executives, campaign scrutineers and the independent auditor will then enter the counting room.

Voting is by preferential ballot. If no candidate reaches 50 per cent of the vote outright, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second-place votes redistributed. This system will continue in rounds until a candidate exceeds the 50-per-cent threshold.

The five finalists are Capilano University Chancellor Yuri Fulmer, conservative commentator Caroline Elliot, Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar, former federal Conservative MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay and former B.C. Liberal minister Iain Black. Milobar is the only candidate who currently holds a seat in the legislature.

Voting closed Friday morning, May 29. Angelo Isidorou, the party’s executive director, reported on social media that more than 25,000 votes have been cast, out of a pool of roughly 26,000 eligible members.

More to come.

READ MORE: B.C. Conservatives prepare to name a new leader as party grapples with division

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