Conservative party wins first election in nearly a century in British Columbia


BC Conservative Party interim leader Lorne Doerkson speaks, following local media projections of a Conservative majority government, at his provincial election night party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, October 24, 2026. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

Oct 25 (Reuters) - The opposition ⁠Conservative Party won an election in the Canadian province ⁠ofBritish Columbia for the first time in nearly 100 ‌years,promising to ramp up liquefied natural gas production, provisional results showed on Sunday.

• The result marks an end to nine years of power for the ​left-of-center New Democrats, who voiced opposition to ⁠new oil pipelines and supported ⁠a ban on tankers along the province's northern coast

• The ⁠right-leaning ‌Conservatives won 64 of the 93 seats and the New Democrats won 27. It is the first Conservative ⁠provincial election win since 1928

• The Conservatives pledged ​to double natural ‌gas production by 2032 and more than triple it ⁠by 2035

• "I believe ​in energy... We will cut red tape like it's never been cut before," Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson said in his victory speech

• ⁠Doerkson, who will become the next premier ​of the province,promised to "supercharge" BC. The province will host a business summit in Vancouver next year

• The Conservatives promised to end emissions ⁠limits, replace the province's carbon tax framework and reach out to energy providers that had left the province's LNG sector since 2018, including ExxonMobil, Chevron and Woodside

• Polls showed voters were ​focused on cost-of-living issues, healthcare, and the ⁠ongoing trade war with US President Donald Trump

• New Democrat Premier ​David Eby had called for a ‌strong mandate to confront Trump's tariff ​threats

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu, writing by David Ljunggren and Maria Cheng; Editing by Nia Williams and Christina Fincher)

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