Conservative Leader John Rustad leaves a campaign stop in West Vancouver B.C., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns

VICTORIA — British Columbia Conservative Leader John Rustad says his party members have given him a "mandate to lead" with 70.66 per cent of party members voting to support his leadership.

The party said in a statement Monday that 1,268 members voted in the review, where Rustad secured support in 78 out of the 93 ridings.

Rustad said in the statement the process has localized democracy and allowed all the members to not only vote on the review, but share their concerns with him directly.

“I believe the members have given me a mandate to lead and I believe British Columbians are hungry for an unapologetic common sense Conservative government. We will make it happen,” he said.

The announcement ends a process that started in the spring with an automatic leadership review following an election defeat.

The results come less than a week after the party said an internal audit found and promptly cancelled what it believed were "manufactured memberships."

Rustad and the B.C. Conservative Party came very close to winning the October provincial election with 44 of 93 seats, but some controversies have dogged his leadership, starting in March when three of his caucus members left or were removed from the party.

Dallas Brodie was kicked out by Rustad for "mocking" testimony of survivors from residential schools, and Tara Armstrong and Jordan Kealy defected a short time later.

Brodie and Armstrong have since formed a new party. Kealy has consistently called for Rustad's resignation and remains an Independent.

Rustad also accused the defectors of blackmailing other MLAs, but he never filed a complaint with police. The chair of the New Democrat caucus later wrote to the RCMP requesting an investigation into the allegations.

Rustad was kicked out of the former BC Liberal Party in August 2022 over social media posts questioning the science of climate change.

He sat as an Independent in the legislature until Feb. 16, 2023, when he joined the Conservatives, and just weeks later he was announced as the new party leader.

The B.C. Conservative's gained official status in the legislature in September 2023, when another former BC Liberal — Bruce Banman — crossed the floor to join Rustad.

The party continued to attract defectors from BC United leading up last year's provincial election, when three MLAs — Elenore Sturko, Lorne Doerkson and Teresa Wat — joined the party in the late spring and summer of 2024.

B.C. United Leader Kevin Falcon announced just weeks before the election call that his party was suspending its election campaign and throwing its weight behind the Conservatives to prevent vote-splitting.

Several BC United candidates, including incumbent MLAs like Peter Milobar and Trevor Halford then ran the provincial campaign under the banner of Conservatives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2025