B.C.’s Blue Landslide: A 98-Year Wait Ends as Eby’s Gamble Fails
ANALYSIS — A projected Conservative majority ends a 98-year wait. What Eby’s early-election defeat means for Doerkson’s agenda, immigration planning and Alberta–B.C. cooperation.
AI-GENERATED EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION — Created for PRC to illustrate the election outcome. The expressions, poses and shared setting are artistic interpretations, not documentary evidence of how either politician appeared or behaved.
October 25, 2026 · By Justin Plosz · British Columbia, Canada · Community · 8 min read read
A blue landslide in seats—not a unanimous province
**Results snapshot: October 25, 2026. The count is preliminary.** Elections BC reported the Conservative Party leading in **64 of 93 electoral districts**, the B.C. NDP in **27** and the Greens in **two**, with 99.57 per cent of preliminary results reported in its 1:49 a.m. snapshot. CBC projects a Conservative majority and Lorne Doerkson as the next premier. Elections BC plans its final count for **November 6–10**.
That is a decisive seat victory: 64 seats would give the Conservatives substantially more than the 47 needed for a majority. But “the whole province turned blue” is a political description, not a literal result. The same official snapshot put Conservative support at **48.05 per cent of valid votes**, compared with **37.38 per cent for the NDP** and **10.97 per cent for the Greens**. Millions of British Columbians did not cast a Conservative ballot, and a large majority in the legislature is not the same thing as unanimous public support.
The historical answer is **98 years**. CBC identifies 1928 as the previous election in which a party running under the Conservative banner won a B.C. majority. That does **not** mean B.C. has gone 98 years without a centre-right government: Social Credit and the B.C. Liberals governed for long periods in the intervening decades. The breakthrough belongs to this party and its banner, not to the first appearance of conservative politics in modern B.C.
Check Elections BC’s live preliminary results
Eby’s early-election gamble failed
David Eby did not have to face voters this autumn. He called an election **two years ahead of schedule**, despite already holding a majority, and framed the decision around the “existential” threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade conflict with Canada. The official election calendar records September 22 as writ day and October 24 as final voting day.
The political criticism was immediate. As [CBC reported before the campaign](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/does-calling-an-early-election-work-9.7355667), Doerkson called the decision a “cheap, opportunistic political move,” while Green Leader Emily Lowan criticized the additional instability. Those are attributed political judgments. The evidence reviewed does not establish that personal greed was Eby’s motive, that he exploited bereavement, or that “everybody” agreed about why he called the vote.
Our assessment is more direct and more defensible: **Eby asked voters for a stronger mandate before his existing one had run its course, and his party instead suffered a decisive defeat.** A premier can genuinely regard the U.S. trade threat as serious and still make a badly misjudged election call. The outcome does not prove each voter’s motive, but it does establish that the strategy failed to keep the NDP in government.
Eby conceded and announced he would step down as party leader. CBC reported him accepting responsibility for the outcome. That is the political consequence—not merely a bad campaign headline, but the loss of government and a leadership transition.
Read CBC’s result, concession and early-election reporting
The Conservative agenda: the commitments worth watching
The positive case for the incoming Conservatives is an agenda built around keeping more earnings, getting projects approved and improving access to services. The party’s [2026 platform](https://conservativebc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/20261016_BCC_Platform2026_8-5x11-Draft-18_compressed.pdf) sets out the following commitments. They are **campaign promises**, not measures this article is claiming are already in force.
**Tax relief:** The party promises C$1,000 a year in income-tax relief per person, or C$2,000 for a couple, through a higher provincial basic personal exemption, alongside a commitment not to raise taxes. The actual benefit to an individual depends on their income and tax payable; a headline tax cut should not be mistaken for a universal cash payment.
**Housing that comes with infrastructure:** The platform promises faster home approvals, lower construction taxes and charges, and growth supported by roads, transit, health care, schools and utilities. The appeal is practical: homes need to become less expensive to build, while new neighbourhoods need the services that make them usable. Faster approvals would be a useful outcome; the test will be completed housing and household costs, not the number of press releases.
**Health care, resources and jobs:** The Conservatives promise to protect universal publicly funded care, introduce a guarantee for publicly funded treatment through another qualified provider when recommended surgical wait benchmarks are exceeded, and address rural emergency-room access. They also propose faster forestry and mining approvals, a 120-day permitting framework for major projects over C$250 million, and a major expansion of natural-gas production—doubling it by 2032 and tripling it by 2035. The platform includes First Nations partnership and equity-financing commitments. These proposals offer a clear pro-development direction; whether they produce the promised care, investment and public revenue will depend on implementation, financing, market demand and lawful approvals.
Read the Conservative Party’s published plan and full platform
What the Conservatives have done—and what they have not
Doerkson has already accomplished something politically substantial: he led a party that had recently been divided into a projected majority. CBC describes his installation as interim leader after Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s departure and the return of several MLAs to the Conservative fold. Winning an election after that disruption is a real political achievement. It is not yet a governing record.
On October 25, the party announced **Kim Henderson as chair of its government transition team**. Henderson is a former head of the B.C. public service, deputy minister to the premier and deputy minister of finance. Bringing experienced public administration into the transition is a concrete first organizational step. It is still not the delivery of a tax cut, a new hospital or an LNG expansion.
There is also a fiscal test. [CBC’s reporting on the costed platform](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-conservatives-costed-platform-announced-9.7386295) describes the party’s revenue and deficit projections and the NDP’s challenge to its costing. Those competing claims should not be resolved by treating either campaign’s arithmetic as an independently guaranteed result. Supporting the aims of a platform does not require suspending scrutiny of its budget.
The fair standard is straightforward: give the new government credit for what it actually completes, distinguish announcements from legislation, and measure whether residents see shorter waits, affordable housing, reliable services and productive investment. A strong majority gives Doerkson room to act. It also removes many excuses for failing to deliver.
Read the party’s October 25 transition-team announcement
Immigration: the NDP should answer planning questions—not invented charges
Immigration deserves serious scrutiny, particularly where population growth puts pressure on housing, classrooms and health services. But the criticism has to identify the decision-maker. **Ottawa sets national immigration levels and makes federal admission decisions.** B.C. has an important, narrower role through its Provincial Nominee Program, as well as responsibility for provincial services and much of the housing-policy framework. A provincial election does not transfer federal immigration powers to Victoria.
The documented NDP-era record is specific. In its [April 14, 2025 release](https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025PSFS0003-000322), B.C. said it had requested **11,000 provincial nominations for 2025**, after using its 8,000 allocation in 2024. Ottawa initially cut the 2025 allocation to 4,000. B.C. then restricted new applications and emphasized health-care occupations. The release said the vast majority of applicants already lived and worked in the province. More recently, [WelcomeBC’s August 18, 2026 update](https://www.welcomebc.ca/immigrate-to-b-c/about-the-bc-provincial-nominee-program/news) reported a further 1,000 federal nomination spaces, bringing B.C.’s 2026 allocation to **6,254**, which the program said it intended to use fully. These are nomination figures—not B.C.’s total immigration intake, not a count of irregular border crossings and not evidence of an unrestricted provincial admissions policy.
Here is the defensible criticism: **a government seeking more economic-immigration places owes the public a credible explanation of how housing, infrastructure and services will keep pace, and how each stream addresses demonstrated labour shortages.** The NDP should be challenged on that planning and on the clarity and fairness of changing program rules. It cannot simply point to Ottawa when the question concerns provincial service delivery. But neither can a critic honestly attribute every federal immigration decision—or every housing problem—to the B.C. NDP. Selected nurses, doctors and construction workers can also help address the very shortages residents want solved.
The sources reviewed do not establish that immigration caused this election result, or that Doerkson’s victory itself changes federal admission rules. Conservatives should face the same capacity and outcomes questions they ask of their predecessors. The right target is poor policy and inadequate planning, not immigrants as a group.
Check the provincial nominee decisions and the government’s stated reasons
Alberta and B.C. have an opportunity—not a finished new alliance
A Conservative government in Victoria could create a more receptive political environment for cooperation with Danielle Smith’s UCP government in Alberta on resources, infrastructure and access to markets. That is a meaningful opportunity for western Canada. The provinces have complementary interests: Alberta’s resource economy and B.C.’s Pacific ports, energy infrastructure, workforce and industrial communities are already connected.
There is a foundation that predates this election. Alberta’s [March 6, 2026 transmission-interties announcement](https://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=95785A6D14352-E8E2-CBFF-B02632CC78FC3D09) identifies B.C. among the provinces and territories in a partnership for electricity cooperation. The [May 15 Canada–Alberta implementation agreement](https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/backgrounders/2026/05/15/implementation-agreement-canada-alberta-memorandum-understanding) also provides for continued engagement with B.C. on energy infrastructure and related economic interests. It would be inaccurate to credit the incoming Conservatives with creating those existing arrangements.
The new opening is political alignment around getting projects built. Doerkson’s platform emphasizes gas production, LNG, faster permits and First Nations economic participation. That could support more constructive discussions with Alberta on electricity, supply chains and export infrastructure. A stronger working relationship would be good for both provinces if it produces investments and benefits that communities can actually see.
But **no new post-election Alberta–B.C. alliance is established by the sources reviewed**. A shared political outlook is not a signed agreement, an approved pipeline or a construction start. Indigenous rights and consultation, environmental obligations, federal jurisdiction, financing and market demand still matter. The case for optimism is the possibility of practical cooperation—not a promise that every contentious project will now proceed automatically.
Read the existing interprovincial electricity partnership
The message to Naheed Nenshi and Wab Kinew
The names and offices matter. **Naheed Nenshi is leader of the Alberta NDP**, not the leader of an Edmonton city party. **Wab Kinew is Manitoba’s premier and the leader who brought its NDP into government.** Their provinces, records and political positions are different from David Eby’s. Nenshi is seeking the opportunity to govern; Kinew is being judged on governing. The [Alberta NDP’s official biography](https://albertandp.ca/naheednenshi) and [Manitoba premier’s official biography](https://www.gov.mb.ca/minister/premier/index.html) establish those roles.
Our view is that B.C.’s result should be taken seriously by both leaders. The lesson is not that putting NDP on a ballot makes defeat inevitable. It is that a party cannot rely on its reputation, its opponents’ turmoil or anger at a foreign president to substitute for a convincing answer on daily life. Housing costs, dependable health care, jobs and the capacity to support growth need specific, credible plans.
For NDP leaders, the uncomfortable questions include how immigration and workforce policy connect to real service capacity, whether building and investment can move faster, and whether the public regards an election call as necessary or self-serving. For Conservatives, the corresponding obligation is to show that their solutions work after the campaign ends. Accountability should not depend on party colour.
One provincial election does not prove an irreversible nationwide NDP collapse or predict the next Alberta or Manitoba result. It does show how quickly a governing party’s position can deteriorate when an early election becomes a demand for renewed trust and voters choose change instead. B.C.’s blue breakthrough is historic. Its lasting value will be determined by what comes next.
Verify Wab Kinew’s office and background
Editor’s note: analysis, sources and artwork
This is a signed analysis article, not a claim of political neutrality or a declaration that every platform commitment will succeed. Election figures are the **October 25, 2026 preliminary Elections BC snapshot**, not certified final results. The majority projection, concession and historical comparison are attributed to CBC. The early-election criticism is identified as opposition criticism, not a proven finding about Eby’s private motives.
The Conservative platform and transition announcement are primary sources for what the party says it will do and has organized. They are not independent verification of its economic forecasts. The immigration discussion uses the province’s published program decisions and distinguishes nomination allocations from overall immigration. Alberta’s official intertie announcement and the Canada–Alberta agreement establish existing cooperation, not a new deal struck after this election.
The cover is an **AI-generated editorial illustration**. Its imagined expressions, poses and setting are not a photograph, a real meeting, an endorsement or evidence of the politicians’ emotions. The illustration communicates the contrast between defeat and victory; the reporting and source links establish the facts. Final election counting and the new government’s actual measures should be checked before sharing any later claim as a completed outcome.
Check the official election calendar and final-count schedule
Key takeaways
- The October 25 preliminary tally showed Conservatives leading in 64 districts, the NDP in 27 and Greens in two; final counting remains ahead.
- The projected Conservative victory is the party’s first since 1928—a 98-year gap, not 98 years without centre-right government in B.C.
- Eby’s election call came two years early; claims about opportunistic timing are attributed political criticism, not proof of greed or another private motive.
- Doerkson’s tax, housing, health-care and resource commitments are promises to be delivered, not accomplishments already completed.
- Immigration scrutiny must distinguish federal admission powers from B.C.’s nominee program, service planning and housing responsibilities.
- A stronger Alberta–B.C. relationship is possible, but existing cooperation predates the election and no new post-election alliance is established here.
Frequently asked questions
- Who won the 2026 British Columbia election?
- CBC projects a Conservative majority led by Lorne Doerkson. Elections BC’s October 25 preliminary snapshot showed Conservatives leading in 64 of 93 districts, the NDP in 27 and Greens in two. These are not certified final results; final counting is planned for November 6–10.
- How long had it been since the B.C. Conservatives last won?
- The previous election victory under the Conservative banner was in 1928, making the gap to 2026 98 years. This does not mean B.C. lacked centre-right governments during that period: Social Credit and B.C. Liberal governments held office in the intervening decades.
- Did David Eby call the election two years early?
- Yes. The September 22 election call sent voters to the polls on October 24, 2026, two years ahead of the scheduled election. Eby cited the Trump trade conflict. Opponents called the timing opportunistic, but that criticism is not proof of his private motives.
- Have the B.C. Conservatives already delivered their promised tax cuts and energy expansion?
- No such delivery is established by the sources checked for this October 25 article. The party has won a projected majority and announced its transition-team chair. Its tax, health-care, housing and energy measures remain commitments to be implemented and assessed.
- Does B.C.’s government control all immigration into the province?
- No. The federal government sets national immigration levels and makes federal admission decisions. B.C. can nominate economic immigrants within its allocation and is responsible for important provincial services and policy. Provincial nominee figures are not the province’s total immigration intake.
- Has a new Alberta–B.C. Conservative alliance been signed?
- No new post-election alliance is established by the reviewed sources. More cooperation is a political possibility. Existing electricity and energy discussions predate the election, and major projects still require applicable approvals, consultation, financing and market support.
- Is the cover an actual photograph of David Eby and Lorne Doerkson?
- No. It is a clearly disclosed AI-generated editorial illustration with imagined expressions, poses and a shared setting. It should not be used as documentary evidence of either politician’s conduct or emotions.
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