B.C. election results: Conservatives win majority government, CBC News projects

One week after voters elected new local leadership, they're heading back to the polls to choose the next provincial government in B.C. There are 93 seats up for grabs in the B.C. Legislature, meaning a party needs to win 47 seats to form a majority government.

The election was called abruptly by NDP Leader David Eby less than two years after his 2024 election win. The snap election call defined much of the campaign and led to enough criticism that he admitted regrets over how he explained his decision to British Columbians.

“I was ahead of British Columbians, where their understanding was of the legislature, when I called the election,” he said on Friday.

“People were very surprised and frustrated by the election call. I should have done a better job of letting them know how stalled out the legislature was."

The NDP’s main competition for re-election is the Conservative Party, which just five weeks ago saw former leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay resign after a series of controversies that saw 12 MLAs leave her caucus in the month before her departure. 

Lorne Doerkson, a soft-spoken two-term MLA from B.C.'s Interior, was appointed the party’s interim leader the same day, and Eby called the election less than 48 hours later. 

An NDP win means a fourth consecutive election victory for the party. A victory for the Conservative Party of British Columbia would be the first since 1928 and would be a remarkable comeback for a party that was potentially on the verge of breakup days before the election was called. 

And if there’s no victory declared tonight? Well, British Columbians remember the 2024 and 2017 elections, and all the mail-in ballots and potential coalition-building that comes with it.