Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman quits B.C. Conservatives, the 6th in 2 weeks

Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman is the latest to leave the B.C. Conservative caucus.

He said in a statement Thursday (Aug. 27) that he will sit as an Independent, and encouraged his fellow MLAs to join him.

Banman said that since the leadership race ended in May, he, “like many, had high hopes
about the next chapter for our party.”

But he said that after “numerous conversations with many of my constituents,” it has become clear that under the new leadership and direction of the Conservative Party of B.C. that an NDP win in the next election is becoming “increasingly likely.”

Banman said that “person after person has informed me they have decided that our new leader is unelectable.”

Kerry-Lynne Findlay was elected leader at the end of May, but does not have a seat in the legislature. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Reann Gasper has announced she would step down from her seat to allow Findlay to run in that riding.

Banman is the fifth MLA to leave the caucus since Monday and the six since Aug. 14.

He said it is with a heavy heart that he is joining the “ever increasing” number of MLAs to sit as an Independent in the legislature.

“I would encourage my fellow MLAs regardless of political affiliation to join me.”

Banman was one of the first MLAs to join former party leader John Rustad and the fledgling B.C. Conservatives in 2023.

“When John Rustad and I started this movement in 2023, we did so on the premise of fiscal responsibility and bringing common sense back to BC politics. I am so proud that we came so
close to forming government in the 2024 provincial election.”

British Columbians elected 44 Conservative MLAs in that election. The party is now down to 31 MLAs. Six MLAs who left or were removed from caucus were under Rustad.

On the party side, almost the entire executive, including party president Aisha Estey and executive director Angelo Isidorou, has quit in the past month.

Many mid- and low-level staff members from both the caucus and party have also quit or been removed from their posts.

On Wednesday, Findlay even fired one of her own hires, former Republican Party of Alberta staffer Apollo Chung, who was working as the operations director for the Conservative caucus.

– With files from Mark Page