After weeks of upheaval, several defectors have returned to the party as B.C. heads into a snap election

The Conservatives celebrated a stunning breakthrough in the 2024 election, coming within three seats of forming government.

In recent months, the party went through a turbulent period marked by defections and divisions — at one point, losing close to half of the MLAs elected under its banner.

Some were expelled, others quit, and one resigned her seat to clear the way for then-leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay to get a seat in the legislature.

The party has since regrouped. Lorne Doerkson took over as interim leader after Findlay announced her resignation on Sept. 20. Several MLAs who had left rejoined the party after Findlay’s departure and after Premier David Eby called a snap election.

The party is now heading into the Oct. 24 election with most of its original caucus back together. Here’s a look at the MLAs who had left the party, including those who have since returned and those who remain out.

Brodie was elected as a Conservative in 2024 but was expelled from the caucus in March 2025 by then leader John Rustad over comments she made on a podcast about residential-school survivors. Rustad said Brodie had mocked and belittled testimony from former students.

Brodie subsequently formed the OneBC party in June. She also survived a failed recall attempt.

Armstrong was elected as a Conservative in 2024 but left the party in solidarity with Brodie and joined the newly formed OneBC party. She later left the party and now sits as an Independent.

Like Armstrong, Kealy left the Conservatives in solidarity with Brodie. He did not join OneBC and has sat as an Independent.

Earlier this June, Kealy was charged with one count of sexual assault in Fort St. John. He has denied the allegations.

Sturko, who served as the party’s opposition critic, was booted from the Conservative caucus in September 2025, hours after Rustad survived a leadership review.

Rustad accused Sturko of plotting against him. Sturko denied the accusation but acknowledged having conversations with colleagues about concerns over Rustad’s leadership. Rustad said Sturko was an effective critic but they had irreconcilable differences over the party’s direction.

On Sept. 18, Sturko was one of several former Conservative MLAs who announced they were joining the new centre-right CentreBC under Peter Milobar’s leadership. After the other MLAs switched back to the Conservatives, Sturko remained with CentreBC and became the party’s leader.

Boultbee left the Conservatives in October 2025 in solidarity with Sturko amid concerns about Rustad’s leadership.

At the time, she expressed concerns that the Conservatives were becoming a smaller-tent party.

She initially sat as an Independent before crossing the floor this summer to join the NDP.

Chan was expelled from the Conservative caucus in March 2026 by interim leader Trevor Halford following domestic assault allegations.

Chan is facing assault charges stemming from an incident in January 2024, about eight months before the 2024 provincial election when Chan was elected to his first term as MLA. He has denied the allegations.

The B.C. Conservatives’ finance critic was the first MLA to leave the party under new leader Findlay, triggering a cascade of departures from the caucus.

Milobar disagreed with the party’s push to the right under Findlay, saying “my values don’t align with this new direction.” He left caucus Aug. 14 and later announced plans to form a new centre-right party with fellow defector Ian Paton.

On Sept. 18, Milobar, along with seven other former Conservative MLAs, joined CentreBC and became its leader. Four days later, Milobar and most of the MLAs rejoined the Conservative fold, now under the leadership of new interim leader Lorne Doerkson, after Eby called a general election.

Like Milobar, Paton is a former B.C. Liberal and United MLA and served as the Conservatives’ agriculture critic.

He left the caucus 10 days after Milobar, citing concerns about Findlay’s leadership, the purging of party staff and the posting of an AI-generated video depicting Premier David Eby as a military dictator.

He joined Milobar in moving over to CentreBC then back again to the Conservative Party.

Gasper resigned her seat on Aug. 22 to clear the way for Findlay to run in a byelection and get into the legislature. Gasper said the decision was her own and that she believed in Findlay’s leadership.

Gasper was first elected as MLA of Abbotsford-Mission in 2024. She served as the Conservatives’ deputy whip and critic for the Ministry of Children and Family Development. After resigning her seat, she was hired as Findlay’s deputy chief of staff.

Today I’m sharing a decision I have made about my future as MLA for Abbotsford-Mission.

I have decided to step down and give @KerryLynneFindl the opportunity to seek the nomination and run here in a by-election.

This is my decision. No one asked me to make it.

Representing… pic.twitter.com/xpXobPyCjp

— Reann Gasper (@ReannGasper) August 22, 2026

Bird left the party Aug. 25, citing infighting and what she described as a change in the party’s values. She told the new leader in her resignation letter that she did not believe the general population wanted a far right party any more than they wanted a far left party.

Bird joined CentreBC under Milobar’s leadership. She has since returned to the Conservative Party.

Wat resigned Aug. 26 over comments Findlay made in a private leadership-campaign chat group, where she insinuated that Wat was affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party.

Wat described the comments as “distasteful” and said Findlay had failed to apologize for the allegations.

Findlay disputed Wat’s account, saying she had apologized to Wat privately and was prepared to issue a public apology but was pre-empted by Wat’s resignation.

Wat, who was a former B.C. Liberal and B.C. United MLA, defected to the Conservatives in 2024 under Rustad. She was among the MLAs who joined CentreBC under Milobar before returning to the Conservative Party.

Day resigned Aug. 27 over leadership concerns. He said he does not believe Findlay has the integrity required to lead the party. “I find her brand of Tea Party conservatism deeply distasteful, and I will no longer support that path for the Conservative Party, which is deeply unfortunate.”

On Sept. 22, Day announced he would rejoin his former party.

Banman also resigned on Aug. 27 over concerns about Findlay’s leadership and electability. In a statement, Banman said the party’s political tent has been shrinking since Findlay took over as leader. “The goal in politics is to make the tent bigger.”

Along with several other MLAs, Banman switched briefly to CentreBC before returning to the Conservatives on Sept. 22.

Warbus, who served as opposition house leader under both Rustad and Halford, announced her resignation from the Conservative caucus on Aug. 31.

She cited “a critical breakdown in communication” with MLAs and staff over hirings, firings, appointments and leadership positions. She also pointed to the cancellation of a caucus meeting that had been scheduled for Monday, which was pushed until after the Sept. 26 Abbotsford-Mission byelection, as the last straw.

She joined CentreBC under Milobar’s leadership, but has since returned to the Conservative Party.

Wilson announced she is leaving the party on Sept. 2, days after an unofficial caucus meeting without Findlay in attendance. “Caucus members met anyway, but her absence spoke volumes,” she said in a statement to media.

Wilson cited the loss of confidence in Findlay as leader, a breakdown in communication and allegations concerning former director of operations Apollo Chung.

She joined CentreBC before returning to the Conservative Party.

McInnis announced his resignation Sept. 2, just hours after Wilson, pointing to Findlay’s leadership and senior appointments as factors in his decision.

Following Findlay’s resignation, MLA Lorne Doerkson was chosen as the party’s interim leader. On Sept. 21, McInnis said an invitation had been extended for him to rejoin the party, which he accepted.

The leader who led the Conservatives in the 2024 provincial election was ousted by Findlay on Sept. 18 after a group of MLAs, including Rustad and Claire Rattée (see below) signed a letter asking Findlay to step down.

On Sept. 21, Rustad shared a statement that said newly chosen interim leader Lorne Doerkson had invited him back to the party and that he had accepted.

Halford, who served as interim leader after Rustad stepped down, was also removed from caucus by Findlay on Sept. 18.

On Sept. 21, Doerkson shared that Halford had been invited to rejoin and has been readmitted to the B.C. Conservative party.

Rattée confirmed she was one of 10 Conservative MLAs to sign the September letter demanding Findlay’s resignation, and was among the trio dropped from caucus on Sept. 18.

On Sept. 21, Doerkson shared that Rattée had been invited to rejoin and has been readmitted to the B.C. Conservative party.

The longtime Surrey politician was the last to leave the Conservative caucus, citing as others did the leadership chaos but also the ouster of the three “seasoned” politicians dropped in Findlay’s latest purge or MLAs and officials. Hepner sent a letter to Findlay announcing her reasons on the same weekend the embattled leader announced her own resignation.

On Sept. 21, Doerkson shared that Hepner had been invited to rejoin and has been readmitted to the B.C. Conservative party.

Following Findlay’s resignation, Chapman, who is married to the unpopular former leader of the Conservatives, said he was leaving the party to join Dallas Brodie and OneBC.

With files from Alec Lazenby, Joseph Ruttle and Postmedia News