Banman is 6th B.C. Conservative to quit this month, calls leader Findlay unelectable

Bruce Banman, who gave the B.C. Conservatives official party status in the British Columbia legislature when he crossed the floor to join colleague John Rustad in 2023, has joined the rush out of the party’s caucus to sit as an Independent, and urged others to join him.

Banman said many have told him Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay is “unelectable” and a win by Premier David Eby’s NDP is becoming increasingly likely.

“For the sake of the future of this province we must defeat this NDP government,” he said in a statement announcing his caucus exit Thursday.

Banman, who represents Abbotsford South, is the sixth Conservative MLA to defect this month under Findlay’s leadership, citing concerns about her leadership and views.

“Person after person has informed me they have decided that our new leader is unelectable. So, with a heavy heart, I am announcing today I am joining the ever-increasing number of MLAs to sit as an Independent MLA in the B.C. legislature,” Banman said.

“I would encourage my fellow MLAs regardless of political affiliation to join me.”

Banman was first elected as a BC Liberal in 2020. But when he crossed the floor, he and Rustad obtained party status for the B.C. Conservatives, boosting their staffing and profile. More defections followed, precipitating the collapse of BC United, which the BC Liberals had been renamed.

Banman did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.

He said in his statement that was proud of how close the Conservatives came to forming government in 2024, on a promise of fiscal responsibility and “bringing common sense back to B.C. politics.”

The Conservatives won 44 seats, three short of a majority, but that number has dropped to 31, including five exits this week.

Teresa Wat and Bennan Day left caucus on Wednesday, Rosalyn Bird on Tuesday, and Ian Paton on Monday. Former Conservative leadership candidate and finance critic Peter Milobar announced his departure earlier this month.

Banman said that since Findlay narrowly won the leadership race in May the “political tent” needed to defeat the NDP was getting smaller, rather than growing as needed.

Findlay still lacks a seat in the legislature, and while Conservative Reann Gasper has resigned as an MLA to give her party’s leader a chance to run in Abbotsford-Mission, she could face a difficult task if an alternative right-of-centre candidate runs in the byelection too.

Paton and Milobar plan to form a party, and Stewart Prest, political science lecturer at the University of B.C., said a viable third-party option could pull votes away from Findlay.

“If that happens, if it’s a competitive candidate, then absolutely that could affect (Findlay’s) chance of winning the byelection,” Prest said Thursday.

Gasper had won the seat with 55 per cent of the vote in 2024, beating incumbent and former agriculture minister Pam Alexis by fewer than 3,000 votes in the two-candidate race.

Milobar and Paton plan to have their new party up and running by the time the legislature resumes on Oct. 5.

Another party, CentreBC, has also sought to position itself as an alternative for voters dissatisfied with the Conservatives.

Elections BC has indicated the latest the legislature could call the byelection is Feb. 24, 2027, putting election day on March 24.

Findlay told reporters on Tuesday that she had been acclaimed as the Conservative candidate for Abbotsford-Mission.

“I do hope the premier calls that byelection sooner rather than later. Obviously, I would like, and my team would like, for me to be in the legislature, taking the debate to the premier,” she said.

Prest said Premier David Eby’s New Democrats had a chance to “really unsettle” the Opposition Conservatives, and it might be worth waiting to call the byelection to allow more time for a third party to emerge.

“It goes with the famous Napoleon dictum to never interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake,” he said.

The Abbotsford-Mission riding would normally be considered “quite a safe seat for the Conservatives,” Prest said, and losing there would potentially “undermine her ability to continue on as a leader.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press