A look back at Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s 4 months as BC Conservative leader

Kerry-Lynne Findlay resigned as the leader of the BC Conservatives on Sunday, stepping down after just 113 days in the role following the membership vote in May.

Her decision to resign came after mounting calls from MLAs who left party caucus and several decisions she herself said she would have made differently “with the benefit of hindsight.”

But how did the party that elected her get to the point it has no party leader? As the prospect of a snap election looms over the province, here is what led to Findlay’s resignation.

May 30, 2026: Kerry-Lynne Findlay is voted in as the new leader, receiving 51 per cent of the vote after four rounds of voting. Caroline Elliott comes in second with 49 per cent.

June 30: Findlay appoints several loyalists to key positions, naming Heather Maahs as interim leader of the Official Opposition, replacing Trevor Halford. She also appoints Steve Kooner and Anna Kindy, who endorsed Findlay during the leadership race, as “lieutenant” positions for stakeholder relations and Vancouver Island respectively.

July: Several high-profile Conservative staff depart or are let go from the party, including Dion Weisner as director of research, and the BC Conservatives’ executive director Angelo Isidorou, who resigned. The former said he was let go by the caucus chief of staff, but that “ultimately everything” was at Findlay’s direction. He also claimed there had been a 50 per cent turnover of caucus staff since Findlay came to power. Isidorou said he was leaving on “amicable and mutual terms.”

July 29: Rosalyn Bird, MLA for Prince George-Valemount, says she was asked to step down to give Findlay the chance to run for a seat in the B.C. legislature. West-Vancouver Capilano MLA Lynne Block and Delta South MLA Ian Paton say they also rejected requests.

Aug. 14: Peter Milobar announces he is quitting the BC Conservative caucus to sit as an independent and cites a lack of alignment with Findlay.

Aug. 22: Reann Gasper resigns from the party caucus to give Findlay the chance to run for a seat. Questions are raised when Findlay says Gasper will become her deputy chief of staff.

Aug. 24: Ian Paton leaves caucus to sit as an independent, but also announces he plans to form a new centre-right political party with Milobar.

Aug. 25: Rosalyn Bird says she will sit as an independent, saying the party was moving too far to the right than she would like.

Aug. 26: Teresa Wat and Brennan Day both announce they will sit as independents. Wat accused Findlay of reneging on a promise to apologize over “serious and unfounded accusations” made by the leader about Wat, calling her “CCP” in reference to the Chinese Communist Party. Wat said she could not stay in a party whose leader questioned her loyalty to Canada. Day said he had lost confidence in the judgment, conduct and ethical standards of Findlay’s leadership and those around her.

Aug. 27: Bruce Banman becomes the seventh MLA to resign from caucus, and sixth to criticize Findlay in their departure. He said Findlay was “unelectable” and urged other MLAs to join him.

Aug.