Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigns as BC Conservatives leader after 113 days and weeks of caucus defections

The Story

Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned as leader of the B.C. Conservatives on Sunday, stepping down after 113 days in the role and following a period of mounting pressure from within the party as MLAs left caucus and senior staff departed or were replaced. Her resignation came as speculation continues to swirl about the timing of a potential early election in British Columbia.

Findlay became leader after a membership vote on May 30, 2026, when she received 51 per cent of ballots across four rounds. Caroline Elliott finished second with 49 per cent, according to the timeline of events leading to Sunday’s resignation.

On June 30, Findlay announced changes that included naming several figures to key positions. Heather Maahs was appointed interim leader of the Official Opposition, replacing Trevor Halford, while Steve Kooner and Anna Kindy—who had endorsed Findlay during the leadership race—were named to roles described as “lieutenant” positions for stakeholder relations and Vancouver Island respectively.

In July, multiple Conservative staff departures and leadership changes were reported within the party structure. Dion Weisner, identified as director of research, and the BC Conservatives’ executive director, Angelo Isidorou, both left their roles, with each describing the circumstances differently. Weisner said he was let go by the caucus chief of staff but that he believed “everything” ultimately reflected Findlay’s direction, while Isidorou said his departure was “amicable and mutual.”

The leadership shake-up rapidly spread beyond staff. On July 29, Rosalyn Bird, an MLA for Prince George-Valemount, said she was asked to step down so Findlay could run for a seat in the B.C. legislature; West-Vancouver Capilano MLA Lynne Block and Delta South MLA Ian Paton said they declined similar requests.

In August, defections from caucus accelerated and were followed by additional political questions within the party. On Aug. 14, Peter Milobar announced he would quit the BC Conservative caucus to sit as an independent, citing a lack of alignment with Findlay. On Aug. 22, Reann Gasper resigned from the party caucus to make way for Findlay to run, a move that prompted further questions when Findlay later said Gasper would become her deputy chief of staff.

More MLAs then left caucus in quick succession and began discussing or forming alternative political alignments. On Aug. 24, Ian Paton left caucus to sit as an independent and announced he planned to form a new centre-right provincial party with Milobar. The same period saw other party members explain their decision to leave: on Aug. 25, Bird said she would sit as an independent, saying she believed the party was moving too far to the right than she would like; on Aug. 26, Teresa Wat and Brennan Day announced they would also sit as independents, with Wat accusing Findlay of reneging on a promise to apologize over “serious and unfounded accusations” and Day saying he had lost confidence in the leadership and ethical standards.

By the end of August, further claims and legal considerations also entered the picture. On Aug. 27, Bruce Banman became the seventh MLA to resign from caucus and the sixth to criticize Findlay as part of his departure, describing her as “unelectable” and urging other MLAs to join him. On Aug. 28, an audio recording surfaced on social media alleging Findlay offered a “senior advisor” role to any MLA who stepped down so she could run; Findlay called the claim “preposterous,” and the B.C. RCMP said they were aware of the purported recording. The timeline also notes that it is illegal under the Criminal Code to negotiate a reward or benefit related to resignation from political office.

The internal disruption had immediate procedural consequences for planned party activities and electoral planning. On Aug. 29, a byelection was called for Reann Gasper’s vacant Abbotsford-Mission seat, and Findlay said she would run for the party in that vote. On Aug. 30, Findlay cancelled both a scheduled caucus meeting and a planned news conference for Aug. 31, and on Aug. 31 Áʼa꞉líya Warbus left caucus, citing the cancellation and Gasper’s resignation among the reasons.

Despite the turmoil, the party continued to identify leadership and electoral steps through early September. On Sept. 2, Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis left the party, both citing Findlay’s leadership. Findlay said Chris Delaney had resigned as her chief of staff and that Reann Gasper would replace him, and she characterized herself as the target of a “co-ordinated political attack.” On Sept. 4, Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and Áʼa꞉líya Warbus announced they were joining Milobar’s new provincial party, and Teresa Wat later joined as well; Wilson said on Sept. 14 that she would also join that party.

Poll and investigation-related developments followed. On Sept. 15, an Ipsos poll showed support for the BC Conservatives under Findlay at 35 per cent, down eight points from the 2024 provincial election and 10 points behind the BC NDP, according to the timeline. On Sept. 17, BC Conservative MLAs and former executives, along with a Victoria reporter, said they were informed they had been the subject of a private investigator hired by a former senior Conservative party official; that same day, Findlay said in a speech she was not going anywhere.

In the final days before Sunday’s resignation, the political realignment inside the Conservative movement became more explicit. On Sept. 18, Peter Milobar was named new leader of the CentreBC party, with six other former Conservative MLAs joining him from within the prior two months. The timeline says that Findlay that same day removed former leader John Rustad, former interim leader Trevor Halford and MLA Claire Rattee from the party caucus. On Sept. 20, the removal of three MLAs prompted Linda Hepner, an MLA for Surrey-Serpentine River, to leave caucus, and shortly after she did so, Findlay resigned as Conservative leader, saying internal conflict consumed too much of the party’s time and attention. The timeline also says Findlay stated she would still run for the party in the Abbotsford-Mission byelection, and Lorne Doerkson was named interim leader.

For voters in Vancouver and elsewhere across B.C., the quick sequence of leadership changes, caucus departures and party restructurings has practical implications beyond individual roles. It affects how the B.C. Conservatives present a unified caucus and leadership going into any early election scenario, and it also shapes candidate choices and organizational capacity for the Abbotsford-Mission byelection that was called after Gasper’s resignation. With multiple MLAs joining a new centre-right formation and additional departures reported through September, Sunday’s resignation intensifies uncertainty about how quickly the party can regroup and whether internal divisions will continue to influence provincial politics.