Peter Milobar is all smiles after he goes from the Mayor's chair to the MLA's office.

(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - The traditionally bellwether riding of Kamloops-North Thompson will stay Liberal for the next four years.

Kamloops mayor and B.C. Liberal candidate Peter Milobar has clinched a seat for his party in the provincial election tonight, May 9. His predecessor, former MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson Terry Lake did not run for re-election this term.

“It’s quite humbling to see the depths of support you have in your community. People in this room are true community builders and supporters, they are always looking to help and build things in Kamloops and the whole region. The fact they are willing to step up and support both Todd and myself is just wonderful,” Milobar says.

Liberal supporters let out booming cheers and applause when Milobar won the Kamloops-South Thompson seat.

After campaigning hard over the last month, Milobar wants to celebrate with his friends, family and supporters tonight.

“There’s a room full of friends and family most of these people have supported me for 15 years, have supported me through municipal campaign so this is truly a room full of friends and I’m going to celebrate with them,” Milobar says.

His leave as mayor ends tomorrow morning and there’s a council meeting on May 16 where next steps for the mayor’s seat will be decided. 

Milobar, who has been the city's mayor for nine years, was head-to-head with NDP candidate Barb Nederpel and Green candidate Dan Hines.

Milobar has previously said he would help the city transition to a new mayor if he was elected MLA.

Although, it's not yet clear if a byelection will be held.

Barb Nederpel addresses supporters after conceding to Peter Milobar for the Kamloops-North Thompson MLA candidacy.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC / iNFOnews.ca)

NEDERPEL CONCEDES TO MILOBAR

The closest candidate behind Milobar ended up being Barb Nederpel, the NDP candidate for MLA. She was greeted at a North Shore hall by dozens of supporters around 9 p.m. tonight.

She gave a speech, at times choking up when she spoke about a "better B.C." for all, and thanked her husband, daughter, son-in-law and campaign manager.

Nederpel says she wouldn't have done a thing different when it came to running her campaign.

"I'm incredibly proud of the work that we've done... we left nothing on the table," she said. "We worked hard, we worked 12 hours a day."

Although she's disappointed she couldn't clinch the MLA seat, she says this election showed many British Columbians wanted change. Nederpel also gives credit to Milobar and Green candidate Dan Hines.

"Congratulations on a well run campaign to both, and to Peter Kerek the Communist candidate," she said. "They're very strong candidates all across the board."

Nederpel says she hasn't quite yet thought about what she will do in the future, but knows in the short term she'll be taking a nap.

— With files from Kim Anderson

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