B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad gets 70.66% support in leadership review

VICTORIA — British Columbia Conservative Leader John Rustad said he believes he has the confidence of the party membership after winning 70.66 per cent support in a leadership review.

Rustad told reporters outside the legislature on Monday that he was “really pleased” with this level of support.

“We have a clear mandate from the vast majority of members of this party, and I look forward to working with our caucus and holding government to account, which is what our job is,” he said.

Rustad won 78 out of 93 ridings, lost 10 ridings, and tied three ridings. Two ridings did not cast any votes and 1,268 eligible party members voted in the review that began last spring.

With the review behind him, Rustad said that he plans to lay out a “a clear plan” that the party will need to follow internally as well externally to hold government accountable in the coming months.

He was expected to meet with his caucus members later on Monday.

“It’s going to be an interesting discussion with caucus, but I think the members have clearly spoken, and this was the most open, transparent leadership review that any party in this country has ever done,” Rustad said.

Rustad said there will be “some discussion” about the leadership review process at the Conservative’s annual general meeting after the party said last week that an internal audit found and promptly cancelled what it believed were “manufactured memberships.”

“There is no system that’s perfect,” Rustad said.

UBC political science lecturer Stewart Prest said Rustad’s 70 per cent support is “enough to go forward,” but the reaction of the “broader party,” including caucus and the conservative movement at large, is still outstanding.

“He has done what he had to do,” Prest said.

Prest said the “real concern” is the legitimacy of the process after hundreds of fake memberships were discovered.

Rustad declined to say who he believed was responsible for the manufactured memberships, noting the party would forward a report to Elections BC.

B.C.’s Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a statement that the Conservatives “stand for conspiracy theories, cuts and chaos,” regardless of who leads them.

Monday’s announcement regarding Rustad’s leadership ends a process that started in the spring with an automatic leadership review following an election defeat.

Rustad and the B.C. Conservative Party came very close to winning the October provincial election with 44 of 93 seats, but some controversies have dogged his leadership, starting in March when three of his caucus members left or were removed from the party.

Dallas Brodie was kicked out by Rustad for “mocking” testimony of survivors from residential schools, and Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy defected a short time later.

Brodie and Armstrong have since formed a new party. Kealy has consistently called for Rustad’s resignation and remains an Independent.

Rustad also accused the defectors of blackmailing other MLAs, but he never filed a complaint with police. The chair of the New Democrat caucus later wrote to the RCMP requesting an investigation into the allegations.

Rustad was kicked out of the former BC Liberal Party in August 2022 over social media posts questioning the science of climate change.

He sat as an Independent in the legislature until Feb. 16, 2023, when he joined the Conservatives, and just weeks later he became the new party leader.

The B.C. Conservative’s gained official status in the legislature in September 2023, when another former BC Liberal — Bruce Banman — crossed the floor to join Rustad.

The party continued to attract defectors from BC United leading up last year’s provincial election, when three MLAs — Elenore Sturko, Lorne Doerkson and Teresa Wat — joined the party in the late spring and summer of 2024.

B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon announced just weeks before the election call that his party was suspending its election campaign and throwing its weight behind the Conservatives to prevent vote-splitting.

Several BC United candidates, including incumbent MLAs like Peter Milobar and Trevor Halford then ran the provincial campaign under the banner of Conservatives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press