B.C. Conservatives gain 1 more seat, kicking out incumbent NDP MLA in Burnaby after final count

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The B.C. Conservatives have picked up another seat after Elections B.C. completed the final vote count in the provincial election.

Conservative candidate David Xie flipped the Burnaby South-Metrotown riding from NDP incumbent Paul Choi, winning by 64 votes.

“We had a bit of a nailbiter here,” Xie told CBC News. “I’m very grateful that I got past the post with the outstanding votes that came through.”

The riding was subject to a recount because Choi’s initial lead was fewer than 100 votes.

Choi, who was first elected in 2024, was not available for an interview.

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B.C. NDP house leader Mike Farnworth that says while it’s difficult news for the New Democrats, “that’s democracy.”

“Paul’s been an excellent MLA, and so to lose by a margin of so few votes, it’s really disappointing,” he said. “I really feel for him. And we’ll miss him in our caucus.”

Election officials, with party scrutineers present, spent the weekend completing the final count of 93 ridings, which took into account 150,000 mail-in, phone and absentee ballots.

It means the Conservatives’ majority has grown to 64 seats. The B.C. NDP have 27 seats and the B.C. Greens have two.

However, Elections B.C. says there are two electoral districts that meet the mandatory threshold for a judicial recount, which is when the difference is less than 1/500 of the total ballots considered.

That includes Ladysmith-Oceanside where NDP incumbent Stephanie Higginson is leading Conservative candidate Kris McNichol by just 50 votes. It was the tightest race in the province, with Higginson leading on election night by just 13 votes.

The other riding is Kelowna Centre, where B.C. Conservative incumbent Kristina Loewen is leading the NDP’s Loyal Wooldridge by 43 votes.

The judicial recount must occur between seven and 15 days after the declaration of the official election results.