B.C. Election: Conservatives jump to early lead over NDP
Posted October 24, 2026 6:00 am.
Last Updated October 24, 2026 8:01 pm.
The BC Conservatives jumped to an early lead within the first hour of polls closing in the B.C. provincial election.
By 8:45 p.m., Lorne Doerkson and the Conservatives were leading in 65 ridings compared 27 for David Eby and the BC NDP.
That would put the Conservatives well in majority territory in the 93-seat legislature — but the results were still early.
Elections BC says advance votes will be tabulated electronically and are being counted first. Almost 900,000 people, or 24 per cent of registered voters, cast ballots in the advance polls.
But votes cast Saturday will be tallied by hand, in a departure from the 2024 election. The agency says the manual count is due to the tight timelines in the election and the technical requirements of getting tabulation machines up and running.
The nearly five-week campaign saw the major parties fight over issues from health care to housing, the province’s record deficit and the increasing cost of living.
Eby, who called the snap election, went head to head with Doerkson and the BC Conservatives, as well as Emily Lowan and the BC Green Party, who’s in her first election.
By 8:15 p.m., there was a stark contrast of mood and attendance at the two major parties’ election night events in Vancouver.
There was a large crowd at the Conservatives’ event at the Rocky Mountaineer Station where supporters were watching election coverage on the big screen in the front of the room. The NDP event at the Pinnacle Hotel Harbourfront had plenty of reporters but much sparser attendance from supporters.
Other parties contending for votes include CentreBC, led by former Conservative Elenore Sturko, and OneBC, whose interim leader Dallas Brodie is another former Conservative.
Not all parties are running candidates in all 93 ridings across the province.
The three main political parties in this election are, in alphabetical order:
BC Green Party
Running candidates in 73 ridings across the province
Leader: Emily Lowan
Lowan was elected leader of the BC Green Party in 2025. This is her first time running in a provincial election. Prior to entering politics, she worked as a climate advocate and activist, based in Victoria.
Riding she is running in: Saanich North and the Islands
BC NDP Party
Running candidates in 92 ridings across the province
Leader: David Eby
Eby is B.C.’s current premier, first elected in 2022. Prior to entering office, he worked as a human rights lawyer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. In 2017, he became BC’s Attorney General, under then-premier John Horgan. In 2020, he became the province’s Minister of Housing.
Riding he is running in: Vancouver-Point Grey
Conservative Party of British Columbia
Running candidates in all 93 ridings in the province
Interim Leader: Lorne Doerkson
Doerkson became interim leader of the Conservative Party of BC in September 2026. Prior to entering politics, he spent 20 years as a Black Press newspaper publisher and has worked as a financial planner.
Riding he is running in: Cariboo-Chilcotin
The other parties running, and the number of ridings in which they have candidates, are, in alphabetical order:
CanWest Party: 2 ridings
CentreBC: 35 ridings
Christian Heritage Party of B.C.: 3 ridings
Communist Party of BC: 4 ridings
Freedom Party of BC: 1 riding
Libertarian: 4 ridings
OneBC Party: 33 ridings
Independent: 7 ridings
Unaffiliated: 8 ridings
A full list of all candidates running in each riding can be found here.
What are the issues?
The campaigns of the three main parties have focused on issues such as affordability, health care, housing, the economy, and public services.
The three main parties’ platforms can be found on their websites:
Some of CityNews’ coverage of the issues leading up to the election can be found here.
When will we have results?
Polls closed at 8 p.m. on Saturday
Elections BC says preliminary results will be reported as soon as possible after the close of voting at 8 p.m.
Some ridings may remain too close to call as ballots are counted.
Elections BC has scheduled the final count for Nov. 6 to 11.
Follow CityNews’ live election coverage for results across British Columbia.
–With files from The Canadian Press
