FILE PHOTO - Former City of Vernon councillor Scott Anderson.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

While most British Columbians were stunned by yesterday’s jaw-dropping announcement that BC United was pulling out of this fall’s provincial election and throwing its support to the BC Conservatives, one Vernon man was all smiles.

Scott Anderson supported the BC Conservatives for years when it was a political backwater. He was interim party leader from 2017 to 2019 when the party had no MLAs, fundraising or even voters.

There might not even be a BC Conservative Party today without him. But now times have changed.

"I'm proud to have helped build the foundation for the success it's got today," Anderson told iNFOnews.ca. "I think the BC Conservatives have always taken a stand on the centre-right more than anything and I helped build it along the lines of the federal Conservative Party."

Anderson said the policies that he helped build with the BC Conservatives tried to mirror as much as possible the federal Conservatives.

And after years of work with little to no reward, BC United's collapse now changes the race for the Vernon-Lumby seat.

"It makes the Conservative position much stronger obviously because there's no vote split," he said.

NDP MLA Harwinder Sandhu won the Vernon-Lumby riding in the last provincial election by a little more than 400 votes, with the BC Conservatives coming in fourth place.

"I don't think there's much question that whoever runs here is going to win for the BC Conservatives," Anderson said.

READ MORE: Kamloops MLA Todd Stone decided to drop out of campaign day before BC United withdrew

Basic math would suggest if BC United voters turn to the BC Conservative they would take the seat from the NDP with a couple of thousand votes.

Anderson, a former Vernon city councillor, said he'd like the BC Conservatives to mirror the federal conservative party in ethos and philosophy which is firmly free enterprise and free speech.

So why has BC United thrown the towel in?

"Throw a dart at the board and you'll find a reason," he said. "But I think the electorate is changing, I think that our expectations are different now... it's a more polarized society.

"I think it has to do with (BC United leader Kevin) Falcon's extremely centrist positions on most things, and sort of professional politician ethos that he's got. I think that in combination with the name change to the BCU, in combination with the rise of the federal Conservatives and the absolute collapse of the federal Liberals," he said.

One issue that may affect the BC Conservative Party is that if all the BC United MLAs and candidates move over to the BC Tories, the party will start to look more like BC United anyway.

"I don't anticipate that that's actually going to happen. I think there are some strong BCU candidates and sitting MLAs who may serve the party well. But that's not a decision that I'm going to be making," Anderson said.

As for whether he would put his name in the hat, Anderson said he's committed to his nomination for the Federal Conservative Party but would run if he was needed.

"I'm not expecting to be called but my name is still there in the event that they decide that they do need a local candidate," he said.

READ MORE: 'Blindsided': BC United MLAs ponder futures as Conservatives as winnowing begins

Lumby Mayor and former BC United candidate Kevin Acton told iNFOnews.ca he would run for the BC Conservatives if asked.

"The politics were pretty closely aligned. That's what was causing the issue in the first place," Acton said. "I've put it out there and I'll wait to see what the leadership of the two parties do."

The BC Conservatives don't officially have any candidates in the Vernon-Lumby riding, but rumours suggest BC Conservative Kamloops-Centre candidate Dennis Giesbrecht or Central Okanagan Regional District vice-chair Kevin Kraft may be parachuted into the riding.

"I think dropping in an outside candidate would definitely not be a good way to go," Acton said.

The BC provincial election takes place on Oct. 19.

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