Meet Lorne Doerkson, B.C.’s accidental premier

Last month, Lorne Doerkson was a well-liked but little-known B.C. MLA, a former rodeo rider and small-town newspaper publisher. Then, while he was on a layover at Amsterdam’s airport returning from a parliamentary association meeting in South Africa, he heard from Conservative Party of B.C. officials.

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They asked him to take the party’s helm. Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay had been forced out by a caucus revolt. It was only supposed to be an interim role, but NDP premier, David Eby called an early election, hoping to capitalize on the Conservatives’ disarray. Suddenly, he was the main man.

Early polls showed a tight race, but Doerkson’s calm, solid demeanour proved popular and the gap grew. By Saturday, election day, the Conservatives won by 11 points, with 48% of the popular vote. That was good for 64 seats, more than double the combined opposition.

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Doerkson, 58, literally bounced onto the victory party stage, walked up to the mic and shouted: “B.C. is definitely blue!”

“Man, I am out of breath. I am so excited,” he exclaimed.

He later admitted he’d possibly been over-caffeinated. But party members loved it, as well as his quick, unlikely rise to become premier of Canada’s third largest province. He did it by unifying an opposition party that had been fractured by waves of defections under the former leader.

“(W)hen his colleagues asked him to lead British Columbians through the 45th General Election, he accepted, and within 48 hours, brought the party back together as one team,” states his bio on the B.C. Conservative party website.

Doerkson’s highest educational attainment is a high school degree. He is described on the party website, not as “a guy working the room with talking points,” but instead, “one you’d find at the rodeo … doing the work quietly, locally, and without forgetting who he serves.”

Most of his six years in the B.C. Legislative Assembly was as assistant deputy speaker, not a role that gets much notice.

Doerkson is a long-time Cariboo-region resident who has spent close to 30 years in the communities that he represents. Born in New Westminster and raised in Surrey, he went on to build his life in Williams Lake, spending 20 years as a newspaper publisher before moving into financial planning. He has also been Rotary president, a rodeo announcer and a volunteer, voted Stampede volunteer of the year in 2019.

As MLA, Doerkson focused his time on his riding in a region struggling to cope with wildfires and hospital emergency room closures, reports the Victoria Times-Colonist.

Then Eby took his gamble. “I didn’t expect this, I certainly didn’t seek this and I certainly did not plan two years ago to somehow put all of these stars into alignment,” Doerkson said in a campaign interview.

Doerkson and the Conservatives went on to consistently lead in opinion polls, as Eby struggled with intense criticism over his early election call.

Doerkson was first elected as MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin in 2020, winning 51.25 per cent of the vote. At the time, Doerkson ran as a Liberal, taking the riding with a significant margin over the NDP (32.46 per cent).

The B.C. NDP went on to form government following the 2020 election, leaving the B.C. Liberals — later renamed B.C. United — as Opposition. Doerkson served as Opposition critic for rural development and as the party’s deputy whip.

But in the spring of 2024, Doerkson crossed the floor to join the Conservatives. “This is the toughest decision I have made in my life,” he said, according to the Vancouver Sun.

“I have spent countless hours listening to my constituents in recent months … They want to see David Eby defeated and they want to see a common sense Conservative government in Victoria,” he said then.

In 2024, Doerkson was re-elected as a Conservative, winning 69.59 per cent of the vote over the NDP’s 30.41 per cent. After the election, he was named assistant deputy speaker.

Tonight, British Columbians chose a new direction.

We’re doing this for our sons and daughters. For the future they deserve and the province we owe them.

Thank you, British Columbia, I won’t let you down. pic.twitter.com/H3Ko6p660S

— Lorne Doerkson (@LDoerkson) October 25, 2026

During the election campaign, the Conservative platform promised to create $2.6 billion in new revenue over three years, while shrinking the deficit to $10.8 billion by 2030. It said a Conservative government would chop spending by freezing outside hiring, cutting consultants, and review spending on numerous government ministries.

The Conservatives promised to reduce income taxes by $1,000 per year, cut contribution taxes and charges, drop the PST on some business expenses, and build a new Massey bridge, scrapping the tunnel plans, among other pledges.

The New Democrats said they costed Doerkson’s promises and argued income tax cuts and taking the PST off Canadian alcohol and other items would reduce revenues by more than $4.3 billion a year and boost the deficit by 33 per cent. The NDP said Doerkson had a budget gap of $6 billion after announcing items such as a new women and children’s hospital.

But Doerkson said unlocking business confidence will pay for all this by filling the province’s coffers with new tax revenue.

“Together, we voted for a better British Columbia,” he said Saturday night. “And from here, I will do everything in my power to get British Columbia back on track.”

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