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Politics · North America

B.C. turnout falls to about 48% as Conservatives win majority

B.C. voters elected a Conservative majority, ending the NDP’s nine-year period in power, according to The Globe and Mail. Preliminary results put turnout at about 48 per cent, which would be the lowest recorded since 1928.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 5 outlets' reporting · Article text read from 1 of 5 outletsHow it's made

View timeline · 9 entries
5 outletsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 4 · R 0 · 1 unrated
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Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Preliminary Elections BC results put turnout at about 48%; the article says this would be the lowest recorded since 1928.
  • The Conservatives won a majority and removed the incumbent NDP government from office, according to the article.
  • The article says the NDP had governed for nine years, beginning in 2017 under John Horgan.
  • Geoff Meggs, identified as John Horgan’s former chief of staff, said NDP voters may have stayed home and that David Eby’s campaign angered them.
  • The article says the NDP proposed policies including regulating grocery prices and that David Eby framed the election around winning a new mandate to address the U.S. trade war.

The brief

B.C. voters elected a Conservative majority, ending the NDP’s nine-year run in charge, which began in 2017 under premier John Horgan. The Globe and Mail reported that preliminary Elections BC results put turnout at about 48 per cent, a level that would be the lowest recorded going back as far as 1928. The result followed a vote called by Mr. Eby on Sept.

22, when two years remained in his mandate and the NDP was leading in the polls. The Globe and Mail said voters elected a sizable Conservative majority and removed the NDP from power. Castanet’s headline described the Conservative win as a two-thirds majority and identified Lorne Doerkson as the party’s leader in the result.

The Globe and Mail’s account places the turnout figure in the context of municipal elections. In Vancouver, turnout for the Oct. 17 municipal vote was 43.4 per cent, up from 36.3 per cent in 2022. Across the province, the Union of B.C. Municipalities reported municipal-election turnout of 32.8 per cent, about three percentage points higher than four years earlier.

Those municipal figures concern different elections and do not alter the provincial preliminary estimate. The article also gives a view of the campaign from Mr. Meggs, who said Mr. Eby had not focused on the NDP’s achievements since 2017 and had proposed policies that failed to connect with British Columbians. That is Mr.

Meggs’s assessment of the campaign; the account does not identify him further or provide a separate explanation for the voters’ choice. CTV’s headline says Eby is resigning as NDP leader. The Globe and Mail’s account establishes the end of the party’s nine-year run in government, while the leadership development is stated in CTV’s headline.

The sources do not specify when the resignation will take effect. The available result information is preliminary: Elections BC’s figure is about 48 per cent, and the account does not give a final turnout total.

The election’s documented outcome is a Conservative majority and a change in government; the turnout estimate marks a contrasting feature of the vote, not a measure of the parties’ seat totals.

Why it matters

  • The Conservative majority gives the new government authority to set B.C.’s priorities and advance its policies, replacing an NDP administration that had governed since 2017. That could change the province’s approach to issues such as grocery prices and the response to U.S. trade pressures, affecting household costs and businesses exposed to cross-border trade. Turnout of about 48% also means the government takes office after a historically small share of eligible voters participated, while the reasons NDP supporters stayed home may shape how the party rebuilds its support.

What to watch next

  • Whether Elections BC’s preliminary turnout estimate of about 48 per cent changes in final results.
  • Whether Eby carries out the NDP leadership resignation described in CTV’s headline.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets
Outlet political mix: Center Only· 4 Center · 1 unrated
Where the outlets are based: Unknown 60% · US/Canada 40%
Outlet political mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
4 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The British Columbia Conservative Party was founded.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  2. The B.C. NDP formed the provincial government for the first time.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  3. In 2017, the BC Liberals remained the principal opposition party, but the close seat count and the Green agreement made legislative support central to government formation.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. The B.C. NDP and Greens reached a confidence-and-supply agreement after the provincial election.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  5. British Columbia voters returned an NDP majority government led by John Horgan.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  6. David Eby was sworn in as British Columbia’s premier.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  7. John Rustad became leader of the B.C. Conservatives after the B.C. Liberals expelled him.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  8. B.C. United leader Kevin Falcon suspended his party’s campaign and endorsed the B.C. Conservatives.
    Background · compiled and fact-checked by Updat3
  9. The closest precedent was British Columbia’s Oct. 19, 2024, provincial election, in which the NDP won 47 seats, the Conservatives 44 and the Greens two.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

The closest precedent was British Columbia’s Oct. 19, 2024, provincial election, in which the NDP won 47 seats, the Conservatives 44 and the Greens two.

The result followed a sharp change in the province’s party alignment: the BC United party, formerly the BC Liberal Party, suspended its campaign in August 2024 and its leader, Kevin Falcon, urged supporters to back the Conservatives. Voter turnout in the 2024 provincial election was about 56 per cent, compared with 54.5 per cent in 2020.

Original sources

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