Leadership resignation comes hours after Linda Hepner leaves caucus, following weeks of defections, expulsions and an internal fight over the direction of the B.C. Conservatives
By Harnaik Singh Rathor | British Columbia | September 20, 2026
Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned as leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia on Sunday, ending a 113-day leadership tenure that began with her victory in the party’s leadership contest on May 30.
Findlay’s resignation came only hours after Surrey-Serpentine River MLA Linda Hepner announced that she was leaving the Conservative caucus and would sit as an Independent.
The two developments capped a week of extraordinary upheaval inside the B.C. Conservatives, including the removal of former party leader John Rustad, former interim leader Trevor Halford and Skeena MLA Claire Rattée from caucus on Friday.
Findlay said Sunday that she was stepping down because the party’s internal conflict had become a distraction from the work she believed the Opposition should be doing.
“I will not allow an internal battle over my leadership to become a continuing distraction from the work British Columbians need a strong opposition to do,” Findlay said in her resignation statement.
She said she would remain the Conservative candidate in the Abbotsford-Mission provincial byelection, scheduled for September 26.
That means the party is now facing a leadership transition while simultaneously preparing for a byelection in which its former leader remains its candidate.
Findlay’s resignation came after a rapid escalation
The resignation did not happen in isolation.
For several weeks, the B.C. Conservative caucus had been losing MLAs and dealing with increasingly public disagreements over the party’s leadership and direction.
Findlay became leader on May 30, but she did not hold a seat in the legislature.
That created an unusual arrangement in which she led the provincial Conservative Party from outside the legislature while Heather Maahs continued to serve as interim leader of the official Opposition inside the House.
Findlay was expected to enter the legislature through the Abbotsford-Mission byelection after former MLA Reann Gasper resigned the seat.
The byelection is now scheduled for September 26, with advance voting running from September 18 through September 23. Elections BC lists Findlay as one of five candidates in the race.
Her decision to remain the candidate means her political future is now tied directly to that riding while the Conservative Party searches for another leader.
Linda Hepner’s resignation added another break in the caucus
Hours before Findlay announced her resignation, Surrey-Serpentine River MLA Linda Hepner said she was leaving the Conservative caucus.
Hepner, a former mayor of Surrey, said she had lost confidence in the leadership’s willingness to listen to experienced voices and consider perspectives outside its immediate circle.
She specifically pointed to Friday’s removal of Rustad, Halford and Rattée.
“To me, it is beyond the pale of common sense to remove experienced voices rather than find a way to listen to them,” Hepner wrote in her resignation message.
Hepner said she would continue representing Surrey-Serpentine River as an Independent.
She did not announce that she was joining CentreBC.
Her departure was significant not only because of the loss of another Conservative MLA, but because it demonstrated that the disagreement over Findlay’s leadership had moved beyond a small group of former party leaders and into the broader caucus.
Friday’s expulsions were the immediate trigger for Hepner
The three MLAs removed from caucus on Friday — Rustad, Halford and Rattée — represented different stages of the Conservative Party’s recent history.
Rustad led the Conservatives into the 2024 provincial election.
The party won 44 seats, its strongest result in the modern history of the B.C. Conservatives, although the B.C. NDP retained government.
Rustad later left the leadership, while Halford became interim leader.
Findlay subsequently won the leadership contest on May 30.
The internal conflict intensified after Findlay took over.
On Friday, she announced that Rustad, Halford and Rattée would no longer serve as members of the Conservative caucus.
The decision prompted questions from Rattée about Findlay’s authority to remove elected MLAs while she herself did not hold a legislative seat.
The dispute became another turning point in an already unstable caucus.
The dispute had been building before Friday
The public confrontation was preceded by an emergency caucus meeting in Vancouver earlier in the week.
According to reporting cited in the StudioNews material, Rustad and Rattée had asked Findlay to step down.
Findlay rejected the request.
The following day, while speaking at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, Findlay told delegates that she was not going anywhere.
That statement became notable only days later when she announced her resignation.
The same week also produced allegations involving a former party executive director and a private investigator.
The allegation was that information had been gathered about sitting MLAs, former staff and a journalist.
Findlay said she had no knowledge of the alleged surveillance. Hepner referred to the allegations in her resignation message.
The allegations remain allegations and should be distinguished from established facts about the caucus changes.
From 44 Conservative MLAs to a much smaller caucus
The scale of the change becomes clearer when the numbers are placed on a timeline.
The B.C. Conservatives entered the October 2024 election with eight MLAs at dissolution and emerged with 44 seats.
That result transformed the Conservatives into the official Opposition and made them the dominant opposition force in the legislature.
The party’s caucus has since changed dramatically.
Peter Milobar left the Conservative caucus on August 14, saying his values no longer aligned with the party’s new direction.
Other departures followed through August and September.
Among those who subsequently left were Ian Paton, Rosalyn Bird, Teresa Wat, Brennan Day, Bruce Banman, Áʼa:líya Warbus, Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis, according to the StudioNews chronology.
The Conservative caucus then lost Rustad, Halford and Rattée through Friday’s expulsions.
Hepner left on Sunday.
The result is a Conservative caucus dramatically smaller than the one elected in 2024.
The latest reporting and legislative listings put the Conservatives at 24 MLAs, although the exact composition of the House has been changing quickly as affiliations are recorded.
CentreBC has become a new factor in the Opposition landscape
The Conservative departures have not simply produced Independents.
A group of former Conservatives has instead joined CentreBC.
Former Conservative MLA Peter Milobar became leader of CentreBC after leaving the Conservative caucus.
On Friday, eight former Conservatives announced that they were joining the party.
That group included Milobar, Bruce Banman, Rosalyn Bird, Ian Paton, Teresa Wat, Áʼa:líya Warbus and Donegal Wilson, as well as Elenore Sturko, who had previously been expelled from the Conservatives.
CentreBC now has eight MLAs and is positioned as the third-largest recognized party in the legislature. Milobar has said the party intends to run candidates across B.C. if an early provincial election is called.
That development changes the political structure of the legislature.
The opposition to the NDP is no longer concentrated entirely within the Conservative caucus.
What does the legislature look like now?
The House has 93 seats.
The latest figures available Sunday show:
| Party / grouping | Approximate MLAs |
|---|---|
| B.C. NDP | 47 |
| B.C. Conservatives | 24 |
| CentreBC | 8 |
| B.C. Greens | 2 |
| Independents | 18 |
| Vacancies / changing affiliations | Subject to updates |
The figures are unusually fluid because MLAs have been changing caucus affiliations rapidly.
The StudioNews material recorded the Conservatives at 24, CentreBC at eight and the NDP at 47, while noting that Independent numbers were shifting as the clerk’s office processed changes.
For that reason, the 24-member Conservative caucus figure should be time-stamped when used in an article or social graphic.
Why Findlay’s resignation is different from the earlier departures
The previous departures weakened the Conservative caucus.
Findlay’s resignation changes the leadership structure itself.
The Conservatives must now determine who will lead the party while preparing for a possible election and while their former leader remains a candidate in a byelection only six days away.
The party also has to deal with the question of whether the leadership contest should happen immediately or after the current electoral uncertainty passes.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that Findlay never entered the legislature.
The person who replaces her as party leader will inherit a caucus that is significantly smaller than the one Findlay inherited when she won the leadership.
Findlay’s political career is not ending with the resignation
Findlay’s Sunday announcement was a resignation from the leadership, not an announcement that she was leaving politics.
She said she would continue as the Conservative candidate in Abbotsford-Mission.
Elections BC confirms that the final voting day is September 26 and that Findlay is officially listed as the Conservative candidate.
There are five candidates on the final ballot:
- Pam Alexis — BC NDP
- Kerry-Lynne Findlay — Conservative Party
- Stephen Fowler — BC Green Party
- Lakhwinder Jhaj — CentreBC
- Jeff Monds — Libertarian
The byelection was triggered after former MLA Reann Gasper resigned on August 24.
Advance voting is taking place from September 18 to September 23, with final voting on September 26.
The Abbotsford-Mission byelection now has added significance
The byelection was already important because it was expected to determine whether Findlay would finally enter the legislature.
Her resignation as leader adds another layer.
If she wins the seat, she would enter the legislature as a former party leader while the Conservatives begin the process of selecting her successor.
If she does not win the seat, the Conservatives would face a leadership transition without their outgoing leader becoming an MLA.
Either way, the September 26 vote will take place against the backdrop of an extraordinary period for the provincial Opposition.
Elections BC says preliminary results will be released after polls close at 8 p.m. on September 26, with final results scheduled for October 1.
Could British Columbia face an early provincial election?
Findlay’s resignation also comes amid speculation about an early provincial election.
Premier David Eby has said the government has not made a decision about calling an early vote.
At the same time, the NDP has been preparing for the possibility of an election.
Eby told reporters during the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that no decision had been made, while saying his party needed to be prepared.
Elections BC has already published election timing information for a possible early call.
According to Elections BC information reported by Global News, an election call by September 22 could result in an October 24 election, while a call between September 23 and September 29 could result in voting on October 31.
The scheduled date for the next general provincial election remains October 21, 2028, unless an earlier election is called.
What happens to the Abbotsford-Mission vote if an election is called?
This is one of the immediate questions surrounding the current political situation.
The Abbotsford-Mission byelection is already underway, with advance voting taking place between September 18 and September 23.
An early general election call could change the electoral calendar.
That is why the next several days are particularly important for the Conservatives, CentreBC, the NDP and the candidates contesting Abbotsford-Mission.
For voters in the riding, however, the election currently scheduled by Elections BC remains September 26.
What comes next for the B.C. Conservatives?
The party now has several immediate tasks.
1. Select an interim leader
The party needs someone to lead the organization through the immediate transition.
Heather Maahs continues to have a role as interim leader of the official Opposition in the legislature because Findlay does not currently hold a seat.
2. Decide on a permanent leadership process
The party will eventually need to determine how and when to select a permanent leader.
That decision could be affected by whether an early election is called.
3. Stabilize the caucus
The Conservatives must determine whether additional MLAs will remain with the party, join CentreBC or sit as Independents.
4. Contest Abbotsford-Mission
Findlay remains the Conservative candidate despite leaving the leadership.
The party therefore continues its campaign in the riding while simultaneously dealing with its leadership transition.
5. Respond to CentreBC
CentreBC’s growth gives former Conservatives another political home and creates a new dynamic for any future election.
Why Sunday’s events matter beyond the Conservative Party
The significance of Findlay’s resignation extends beyond the leadership of one political party.
The Conservatives were elected in 2024 as a 44-member Opposition caucus.
Less than two years later, the caucus is substantially smaller, CentreBC has emerged as a new recognized force, and the Conservative leadership has changed again.
That has implications for how the Opposition operates in the legislature.
It also changes the political environment ahead of any potential provincial election.
The next election — whenever it occurs — would therefore take place in a substantially different opposition landscape from the one British Columbians saw in 2024.
A timeline of the B.C. Conservative crisis
October 2024:
The B.C. Conservatives win 44 seats in the provincial election and become the official Opposition.
December 2025:
John Rustad resigns as Conservative leader after previously being replaced by the caucus.
May 30, 2026:
Kerry-Lynne Findlay wins the Conservative leadership.
August 14:
Peter Milobar leaves the Conservative caucus.
August–September:
Additional Conservative MLAs leave the caucus as disagreements over the party’s direction continue.
September 17:
Findlay tells delegates at the UBCM convention that she is not going anywhere after facing calls to resign.
September 18:
Rustad, Halford and Rattée are removed from the Conservative caucus.
September 18:
Eight former Conservatives announce that they are joining CentreBC.
September 20, morning:
Linda Hepner resigns from the Conservative caucus and says she will sit as an Independent.
September 20, afternoon:
Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigns as leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
September 26:
Abbotsford-Mission byelection scheduled for final voting.
The immediate questions facing B.C. politics
Findlay’s resignation leaves several questions unanswered.
Who will become interim leader of the Conservatives?
Will the party hold a leadership contest before a potential provincial election?
Will additional Conservative MLAs leave?
Will CentreBC continue to attract former Conservatives?
Will Premier David Eby call an early provincial election?
And what happens to Findlay’s political career if she wins — or does not win — the Abbotsford-Mission byelection?
For now, one fact is clear: the Conservative Party of British Columbia is entering another leadership transition at the same time that the provincial political landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Findlay’s 113-day leadership has ended.
Her candidacy in Abbotsford-Mission has not.
And the next chapter of B.C. politics will unfold with a Conservative caucus substantially smaller than the one elected in 2024, a newly strengthened CentreBC and an NDP government considering its next move.
StudioNews will continue updating this story as the Conservative Party announces its interim leadership arrangements and as developments emerge ahead of the September 26 Abbotsford-Mission byelection.
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving diaspora communities across 44 languages. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
