Kerry-Lynne Findlay won B.C. Conservative race as most authentic populist: expert

VANCOUVER — Kerry-Lynne Findlay won the B.C. Conservative leadership race because she is an “authentic champion” of populism within the broader conservative movement, says an analyst who studies modern conservatism in western countries.

David Black, who teaches political theory at Royal Roads University in Greater Victoria, said Findlay’s victory over Caroline Elliott confirms the party’s turn toward populism.

“(Findlay) sought to apply purity tests during the debates, as part of her campaign strategy for the leadership, and she won that purity test,” Black said. “She was the purest candidate with respect to populist bona fides.”

He added that Findlay, unlike Elliott, did not have to perform populism because of her credentials while serving under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and later Pierre Poilievre, the current federal Conservative leader.

The scholar said Findlay’s acceptance speech not only included traditional right-of-centre themes such as public safety as well as comments about the importance of small businesses and individual effort, but also “populist coding” around eastern and global elites holding B.C. back.

Black said the Conservatives under Findlay will become a more ideological party than past right-of-centre parties like BC United or the former B.C. Liberals, pointing to her promise to offer a “grand vision of fundamental change.”

But he said Findlay will need to work to unite the party. Elliott’s near-victory threw into sharp relief the divide between its moderate, right-of-centre wing and a populist faction defined by social and cultural conservatism.

Black said he thought Elliott’s performative populism could have been a winning strategy by working both sides of that divide, since her roots lie with right-of-centre conservatism. Elliott is the sister-in-law of BC United Leader Kevin Falcon, and was endorsed by former B.C. Liberal premier Gordon Campbell.

“But it is clear that this party is more populist than centre-right,” Black said.

This, however, does not take away from the divisions within the party, and Black said Findlay will have to mend fences, including her relationship with sitting MLA Peter Milobar, who was one of the three other leadership candidates.

Milobar and Findlay openly clashed during the third and final debate, when Findlay suggested that Milobar had “a conflict of interest issue,” because his wife had worked for the Kamloops Indian Band.

“Just say it: my wife’s Indigenous, so you think I’m in conflict of interest,” Milobar shot back. “I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous in my life.”

This clash and the reactions to it featured prominently in the statement the B.C. NDP released moments after Findlay was announced as winner.

The release said her campaign included what the NDP called a direct racist attack on Peter Milobar, referring to the conflict during the debate.

When Vaughn Palmer of the Vancouver Sun asked Findlay about the incident, she denied that she accused Milobar of a conflict of interest. “I asked him a question,” she said. She also confirmed that she could work with him. “Of course, and we are talking,” she said.

Findlay also assumes leadership of the party amid a media report that says she was being investigated for wrongdoing in the last federal election. She called the accusations “unproven and anonymous,” but did not field questions when meeting with reporters just outside the legislature last week.

She instead left the scene. When asked by Palmer about the incident, Findlay said she never walked away from a news conference. “Excuse me,” she said. “I called that conference.”

She added that an assistant told reporters she would not be taking questions because of the ongoing leadership campaign.

“I wanted to set the record straight with respect to these false allegations, and that is why I did not entertain questions on that date. I’m really here in front of everyone, so don’t make it in something it isn’t.”

Black said the report alleging wrongdoing might in a “strange way” actually help Findlay with the populist side of the party, because it doesn’t tend to think highly of Elections Canada.

Findlay said she would be meeting Sunday with her caucus of MLAs to discuss various issues, including the logistics of getting her into the legislature.

Another issue facing Findlay is the question of what to do with five former Conservative MLAs who were either kicked out of the party by former leader John Rustad or who left the Rustad-led party on their own accord.

One of them, Dallas Brodie, has gone on to form her own party. Tara Armstrong, who was once part of Brodie’s party before falling-out, endorsed Findlay, as did Jordan Kealy.

Findlay said she will the discuss issue further with caucus, and won’t act unilaterally.

One former Conservative MLA likely not returning to the fold under Findlay is Elenore Sturko.

She said on social media that the results of the leadership race have left a void in the political landscape for those looking for an alternative to what she called the B.C. NDP incompetence.

“I feel strongly that British Columbia is best served when it is represented by a government that values broad perspectives and stays away from polarizing extremes,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2026.

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press