Former B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad arrives for a news conference in Richmond on July 30, 2024. (Image Credit: Darryl Dyck/ The Canadian Press)

By Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

B.C. Conservatives to unveil new leader on May 30, leadership race rules unveiled

Jan 17, 2026 | 11:15 AM

VICTORIA — The B.C. Conservative Party has unveiled rules for its leadership race that include $115,000 in fees for contestants, who must sign a pledge to support the eventual winner set to be announced at the end of May.

The rules say voting under a preferential ballot system will be held from May 9 to May 30, while the deadline for nominations is Feb. 15.

Candidates will also have to pay a refundable $20,000 “compliance deposit” to cover fees if they break the rules, with penalties of up to $75,000 for each infraction.

The rules come as the field of contenders in the race to replace John Rustad, who stepped down last month, has grown to six. It includes Prince George-North Cariboo MLA Sheldon Clare and Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

The rules unveiled on the party’s website, dated Jan. 14, also do not appear to tolerate division once the race is settled.

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In addition to a pledge to back the eventual winner, contestants must commit to publicly campaigning for the party in the next provincial election and “neither make, or permit their supporters to make, disparaging personal remarks concerning other leadership contestants,” the party, its employees or the board of directors.

The race is on! Our new leader will be announced on May 30, 2026.

Learn more at https://t.co/966E84zo8P pic.twitter.com/4kuvPTLDQL

— Conservative Party of BC (@Conservative_BC) January 17, 2026

The last provincial election in October 2024 took the B.C. Conservatives to the brink of power, with 44 members in the 93-seat legislature. In the year that followed, the party lost five MLAs to differences within their ranks, and Rustad was ultimately forced out by a caucus revolt.

University of British Columbia political science lecturer Stewart Prest said the race so far has seen candidates focus on issues that will tend to unite Conservatives.

“But under the hood, we of course have all these hugely divisive issues within conservatism in the province, and in Canada, more broadly,” he said.

Prest said he expects the race to boil down to a champion from the more moderate wing of the party, and from the more populist wing, noting the public is still waiting on MLA Harman Bhangu to declare his candidacy.

Bhangu – who last year voted with a handful of ex-Conservatives in an unsuccessful bid to ban land acknowledgments by public officials – has said he wanted to see the rules before deciding whether to seek the leadership.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.