Punishing night for NDP in B.C. as Jagmeet Singh loses seat and exits as leader

VANCOUVER – New Democrats have suffered a punishing election night in British Columbia, losing most of their seats in the province, including that of Jagmeet Singh who says he’ll be stepping down as leader.

The province had been home to half of the party’s 24 seats going into the election that was won by Mark Carney’s Liberals, but the NDP was set to retain just a handful and was on its way to losing official party status.

The Liberals and Conservatives both had 14 ridings each in B.C. as election day dawned. But both profited from the hammering suffered by the NDP, with the Conservatives leading or elected in 20 ridings as counting continued, and the Liberals in 19.

Singh said it had been the honour of his life to represent Burnaby Central.

“Obviously I’m disappointed that we could not win more seats, but I’m not disappointed in our movement. I’m hopeful for our party. I know that we will always choose hope over fear, and optimism over despair, and unity over hate,” he said at an event in Burnaby, B.C.

Another federal party leader in B.C., Elizabeth May of the Greens, was meanwhile celebrating after comfortably retaining her seat of Saanich-Gulf Islands.

May, who defied some predictions of a close race, was handily re-elected with about 40 per cent of the vote, boosting her 2021 vote share.

She sounded a defiant note after her win was confirmed, even as the party was reduced to a single seat.

“The point is there were a lot of pundits who were perfectly happy to predict that we would be wiped off the map,” May told reporters. “No — we are here, we are here to stay.”

David Black, a political communications expert at Greater Victoria’s Royal Roads University, said B.C. was seen as “NDP country,” but now the party has collapsed.

“(B.C.) really held up the NDP as a competitive federal party, as a presence in Parliament. That’s ended,” he said.

Black said the Liberals and the Conservatives attracted B.C. voters using different methods.

“From the Liberal point of view, the active factor was (U.S. President) Donald Trump and the national trend toward strategic voting that turned a multi-party race into a binary race,” he said.

Progress in the province looked different for the Conservatives, Black said, where the party made significant inroads with young male voters, and with blue collar and unionized workers.

“Both demographics who, you know, traditionally might have voted with the NDP, but are increasingly leaning to the Conservatives,” he said.

Among the few NDP incumbents who have held their B.C. seats are Jenny Kwan in her longtime riding of Vancouver East, and Gord Johns in Courtenay-Alberni on Vancouver Island.

But a series of other NDP MPs were toppled on the island, including Laurel Collins in Victoria, Lisa Marie Barron in Nanaimo Ladysmith, and Alistair MacGregor in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford.

The party went into election night holding six of the seven ridings on the island. It emerged with just one.

Johns called his victory “bittersweet” since so many colleagues would not be returning to Ottawa, and he and his colleagues would “take some time to absorb” the losses.

He said that “however many MPs” the party ended up with “we’re going to prove to everybody that we’re going to make a difference too.”

Johns thanked Singh for his leadership, but said the party ran up against what he described as outsized competition from the Liberals and the Conservatives.

“I think just at the end of the day, we were just stretched too thin,” he said.

Black said Vancouver Island used to be considered a “political nirvana” where progressive parties had done well.

“Now (it) looks very much like Canada. Four parties having representation in this small island, in this politically concentrated place,” he said.

Elsewhere in the province, Bonita Zarrillo lost Port Moody-Coquitlam, while Don Davies was in an unexpectedly close battle with Liberal Amy Gill in Vancouver Kingsway, held by Davies since 2008.

The NDP’s Peter Julian in New Westminster-Burnaby-Maillardville and Taylor Bachrach in Skeena-Bulkley Valley were both trailing with most polls reporting.

Liberal Hedy Fry will meanwhile remain the longest-serving female member of Parliament after winning her 11th consecutive election in her riding of Vancouver Centre, while party colleague Taleeb Noormohamed comfortably retained Vancouver Granville.

Former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson is making a return to politics after winning Vancouver Fraserview-South Burnaby for the Liberals.

Robertson, who was hand-picked as a candidate by Carney, said they have not discussed what role he will play in government.

“This first step is getting a team elected to government,” Robertson said. “And it’s been a big test — five weeks of everyone going flat out and focused on getting the support of our communities. So that’s been 100-per-cent of our focus to date.

He added that he was “happy to work and bring my experience to whatever files I’m needed for.”

“I’m keen to be back in politics at the federal level and leveraging my experience as a mayor and MLA to deliver everything I can for my city and its people,” he said.

The Liberals dominated in Vancouver and Burnaby, winning at least six of 10 ridings, while the Conservatives snatched the expanded riding of Richmond Centre-Marpole.

South Surrey-White Rock flipped in a different direction, with Conservative incumbent Kerry-Lynne Findlay losing to Liberal Ernie Klassen.

Former BC Liberal provincial cabinet minister Mike de Jong lost his independent bid to represent Abbotsford-South Langley which was won by Conservative blueberry famer Sukhman Gill. De Jong finished in third place.

“We thought we ran a tremendous campaign,” de Jong said. “The grassroots support seemed tremendous. It didn’t translate into the number of votes that we thought it would. And, of course, on a night like tonight that’s disappointing.”

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Aaron Gunn won the riding of North Island-Powell River for the Conservatives. Last month Gunn was accused by some First Nations leaders of denying the effects of residential schools, an assertion Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said was “false.”

Voters in B.C. had headed to the polls amid an outpouring of grief over an attack at a Filipino festival in Vancouver where 11 people were killed and dozens more were hurt on Saturday.

Excitement around the election was tempered as mourners and politicians, including Singh and Carney, attended a vigil Sunday night for the victims, who ranged in age from five to 65.

— With files from Wolfgang Depner in Victoria and Brieanna Charlebois in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2025.