Kerry-Lynne Findlay needs a seat in the B.C. legislature. How can she get one?

The new B.C. Conservative leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, with her husband, MLA Brent Chapman. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG

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The new B.C. Conservative leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, is building her own team within the party, but what she will want most is to get a seat in the legislature as soon as possible.

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She has hired a new chief of staff and is in the process of hiring a new communications director, but before she can take her place in the official Opposition leader’s office in Victoria, she will need to win a byelection to become an MLA.

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Here are three things you need to know.

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Will Findlay have to ask an MLA to step aside?

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Yes, the first step toward getting a new party leader into the legislature is to have an MLA step aside and have wait for Premier David Eby call a byelection.

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This most recently happened at the federal level with Conservative MP Damien Kurek stepping aside in an Alberta riding to let party leader Pierre Poilievre run after he lost his seat in an Ottawa-area riding. At the provincial level, former B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson gave up his seat in Vancouver—Quilchena in 2022 to allow new party leader Kevin Falcon to run.

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UBC political scientist Stewart Prest said that a new leader like Findlay asking an MLA to resign their seat is a delicate process.

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He said it is better if an MLA steps up to offer their seat. Several sources have told Postmedia that two or three MLAs have offered their seats to Findlay, but no decision has been made on where she might run.

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Two sources also say that Surrey—Serpentine River MLA Linda Hepner is one of the MLAs who has offered to step aside. The former Surrey mayor narrowly won her seat in 2024 over NDP candidate and former RCMP officer Baltej Singh Dhillon, with Hepner pulling 49.7 per cent of the vote to Dhillon’s 47.5 per cent.

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Prest said that this would be a great opportunity for Findlay to win a seat close to her Surrey home in a battleground riding. But, he said, it might be risky given the chance for defeat.

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According to Prest, another possible scenario would be to have Findlay’s husband, Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman, to step aside. But they appear to view themselves as a team at the centre of the party, so that is unlikely to happen.

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“It is going to be a decision to watch closely for those who support both Chapman and Findlay. I think it’s understandable that he need not step aside because he can be clearly a strong support to his spouse in caucus,” said Prest.

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“But it also is perhaps going to rub some the wrong way, if there’s a sense that someone else is being compelled to step aside instead of Chapman. So the internal politics are important here as well.”

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What is the timing of a byelection?

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Once an MLA has stepped down, Eby has six months to call a byelection, although the Conservatives are likely hoping the premier is magnanimous and calls the byelection right away.

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Campaigns for byelections in B.C. last 28 days, with final count coming at least four days after voting day.