B.C. Conservatives projected to win majority, Doerkson to be premier

The B.C. Conservatives are projected to form a majority government after the province's general election on Saturday, Oct. 24, with Lorne Doerkson set to become British Columbia's next premier.

CBC News projected the majority on election night. Doerkson has led the party as interim leader.

Preliminary results from Elections BC, with 99.57 per cent of ballot boxes reported, show the Conservatives leading in 64 of the province's 93 ridings with 48.05 per cent of the vote. The NDP is leading in 27 ridings with 37.38 per cent, and the B.C. Greens are leading in two with 10.97 per cent. A party needs 47 seats for a majority.

NDP Leader David Eby announced his resignation as party leader on election night and said he had called Doerkson to concede.

"We voted for a better British Columbia, and from here I will do everything in my power to get British Columbia back on track," Doerkson told supporters in Vancouver, according to CBC News.

Other right-leaning parties, including the B.C. Liberals and Social Credit, have governed B.C. in recent decades, but CBC News reports this would be the first majority for a party running under the Conservative banner since 1928.

The results are not yet official. Elections BC says vote-by-mail, absentee and assisted telephone ballots are counted about two weeks after election day, with the final count set to begin Nov. 6.

Sources: Elections BC preliminary results; CBC News.