White Rock mayor Megan Knight has announced she is seeking the Surrey South MLA nomination with the BC Conservatives, while remaining on White Rock’s Oct. 17 civic ballot and facing the provincial vote on Oct. 24.
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White Rock mayor Megan Knight will have her name on two election ballots scheduled one week apart after announcing her candidacy for Surrey South with the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
Knight’s civic-election name will remain on White Rock’s mayoral ballot for the Oct. 17, 2026, municipal election even though she is no longer pursuing a mayoral term, according to the White Rock chief election officer’s timeline for nominations and candidate withdrawals.
Nominations closed Sept. 11 and the deadline for candidates to withdraw was Sept. 18, meaning Knight—who had planned to seek re-election as of about a week earlier—will continue to appear as one of three mayoral candidates on the civic ballot.
Advance voting in White Rock’s municipal election begins Oct. 7, and the overlap creates a practical scenario for voters in White Rock: municipal and provincial campaigns will run concurrently, with Knight positioned as a candidate on both ballots rather than solely on a local ticket.
Knight is seeking the Surrey South MLA seat for the provincial election on Oct. 24, 2026, with the Conservative Party of B.C. confirming her candidacy. Her candidacy announcement follows the Conservative’s confirmation process and comes after Surrey South’s current MLA, Brent Chapman, was elected in the 2024 provincial vote.
Surrey South is entirely within the City of Surrey’s geographical area and does not include White Rock, making the two electoral contests geographically separate. However, the timing leaves Knight campaigning for a provincial constituency adjacent to her municipal jurisdiction, while still technically listed for a mayoral race inside White Rock.
Surrey South is currently represented by Brent Chapman, the husband of former BC Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay. Findlay resigned as leader on Sept. 20 amid internal Conservative party turmoil, according to the details provided.
On Sept. 22, after the internal leadership conflict involving Findlay’s continued role, Chapman announced he would seek re-election under the OneBC banner. The nomination and leadership changes have reshaped the provincial race in Surrey South as candidates and parties recalibrate ahead of the snap provincial election call.
Lorne Doerkson has taken over as interim Conservative leader, while municipal and provincial politicians are reassessing whether to run again and, if so, at what level of government and under which party banner.
The announcement also reflects new restrictions on dual office-holding in B.C. In Spring 2025, the BC NDP-led government passed legislation barring MLAs from simultaneously serving as mayors, city councillors, School Board trustees, or Park Board commissioners. That change means Knight’s provincial run is incompatible with holding municipal executive office.
The overlapping campaign period drew criticism around the timing of the snap provincial election call on Sept. 22, with municipal officials and other critics urging Premier David Eby to delay the provincial vote until after municipal elections. They argued that a concurrent provincial campaign could draw attention and media focus away from local races and that the Conservatives should have more time to choose a permanent leader.
In addition to the Conservative reshuffling, the snapshot of B.C. politics provided includes multiple BC NDP cabinet ministers signaling they will not seek re-election, including Ravi Kahlon, Kelly Greene, Lana Popham, and Brenda Bailey. These decisions have further accelerated changes in the political field leading up to the Oct. 24 provincial vote.
In White Rock’s municipal contest, the other mayoral candidates still seeking the mayoralty are Susan Bains, a current city councillor with Together for White Rock, and realtor Chris Shields. Knight served as a city councillor from 2014 to 2018 before being elected mayor in 2022.
Knight’s 2022 mayoral win came with 2,001 votes (37.5 per cent), narrowly ahead of incumbent Darryl Walker, who received 1,811 votes (about 34 per cent). With the provincial election now in play, the upcoming municipal vote will determine whether voters in White Rock retain Knight’s name on the ballot outcomes despite her shift toward provincial politics.
For Vancouver-area readers watching the political landscape beyond the Lower Mainland’s biggest urban centres, Knight’s move illustrates how snap election timing can pull attention away from local races while also forcing elected officials to navigate new eligibility rules that bar combining provincial and municipal executive roles.
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