Former MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay elected leader of B.C. Conservatives

Kerry-Lynne Findlay addresses the crowd for the first time after her win.

The B.C. Conservative Party has chosen its new leader.

Former MP Kerry-Lynne Findlay was elected by a slim margin in the fourth round of voting in the leadership convention at Rocky Mountaineer Station in Vancouver Saturday evening.

The former federal Conservative cabinet minister secured the leadership with 51 per cent of the vote, narrowly defeating commentator Caroline Elliott, who received 49 per cent.

After the crowd erupted in cheers when the result was delivered, Findlay took the stage to thank her supporters and family, including husband Brent Chapman, the current Conservative MLA for Surrey South.

“What am I fighting for? I’m fighting for nothing less than the future of British Columbia, our way of life,” she told party members in her acceptance speech. “Mine is a grand vision of fundamental change. Our homes, our individual rights, our properties are at stake. We need hope and prosperity.”

In her campaign platform, Findlay promised to cut taxes, crack down on crime, protect private property rights, boost the natural resource sector and “get woke ideology out of our schools.”

If elected premier, Findlay told supporters she would turn B.C. into a “powerhouse in our nation” and end the NDP’s “economic vandalism.”

“Faith, family and freedom. That’s what it’s all about,” she said.

On the campaign trail, Findlay positioned herself as a true Conservative against a B.C. Liberal takeover. She was condemned by opponents for saying fellow leadership candidate Peter Milobar had a conflict of interest when it comes to reconciliation because his wife is Indigenous.

Milobar, a current MLA, entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer and former MLA Iain Black were eliminated when they came last in the previous rounds, in that order.