VANCOUVER — The BC Conservative leadership contest has seen a flurry of activity and endorsements in recent weeks. Here are some of the most significant and what they mean, or don't mean, about the race.Peter Milobar, the only sitting MLA still running, has locked up endorsements from eight current Conservative MLAs in the BC Conservative Party leadership race, the strongest display of caucus support to date as the contest narrows toward a May 30 vote..The Kamloops Centre MLA, who is also the party’s finance critic, picked up the backing of Brennan Day (Courtenay-Comox), Gavin Dew (Kelowna-Mission), Kiel Giddens (Prince George-Mackenzie), Scott McInnis (Columbia River-Revelstoke), Ward Stamer (Kamloops-North Thompson), Linda Hepner (Surrey-Serpentine River), Ian Paton (Delta South) and Pete Davis (Kootenay-Rockies). He has also been endorsed by several former MLAs and by retired senator and Olympic champion Nancy Greene Raine.Other significant endorsements have come from candidates who dropped out of the race. Bruce Banman, the Abbotsford South MLA and former caucus whip, suspended his campaign on March 15 and threw his support behind businessman Yuri Fulmer, citing Fulmer’s private-sector track record. Banman called Fulmer “the only candidate with a proven track record” in business who could “kick-start the economy.”.Two days later, Harman Bhangu, the Langley-Abbotsford MLA, exited and endorsed political commentator Caroline Elliott. Bhangu said he backed Elliott because of her focus on “common sense” in schools, prosperity for working families and respect for private property..Iain Black, a former BC Liberal cabinet minister and Greater Vancouver Board of Trade CEO, has garnered a different set of high-profile nods. He is supported by two sitting MLAs — Teresa Wat (Richmond-Bridgeport) and Misty Van Popta (Langley-Walnut Grove) — as well as federal Conservative MP Scott Anderson of Vernon-Lake Country-Monashee, who called Black his “top pick” on March 21..Black has also received endorsements from prominent former federal and provincial figures including former Surrey mayor and MP Dianne Watts, former MPs Ed Fast and James Moore, and former senator Gerry St. Germain..Kerry-Lynne Findlay, a former federal Conservative cabinet minister and MP who served as the first woman to hold the position of Chief Opposition Whip for the federal Conservatives from 2023 to 2025, is one of two candidates — along with Black — to have received public endorsements from sitting federal Conservative MPs..Findlay has picked up the endorsement of federal MP Leslyn Lewis as well as sitting MLA Steve Kooner (Richmond-Queensborough), who dropped out of the leadership race to back her..With membership cut-off and ballot deadlines approaching, further endorsements from the remaining caucus members and prominent Conservatives are expected in the coming weeks.Darrell Jones and Warren Hamm, who are both running as outsiders, have yet to attract any notable endorsements from political circles.In this sense, the endorsements largely reflect the varying levels of political experience among the candidates rather than along any identifiable ideological trends, with former colleagues at the provincial and federal levels tending to back those with whom they have shared caucus rooms or cabinet tables.Milobar’s strong support from sitting Conservative MLAs underscores his status as the lone remaining legislator in the race and his deep integration into the current provincial caucus.Black draws from his provincial cabinet background and Greater Vancouver business networks, while Findlay benefits from her federal Conservative experience, including her historic role as Chief Opposition Whip.The exceptions are the endorsements from dropped-out MLAs Bruce Banman and Harman Bhangu, who opted for relative political outsiders Yuri Fulmer and Caroline Elliott, respectively.
