By Noah Jarvis, True North Wire
With files from Clayton DeMaine.
In a stunning turn of events, BC United suspended its campaign in this fall’s provincial election with leader Kevin Falcon resigning from his role to support the rival BC Conservatives.
The move comes as BC United has been bleeding support to the BC Conservatives over the past year, dropping from second place to the fourth most popular party in the race.
In a dual statement, the B.C. Conservatives announced that Falcon was “encouraging all BC united supporters to unite behind John Rustad and the Conservative Party of BC to prevent another four years of disastrous NDP government.”
During a joint press conference with Falcon and BC Conservative leader John Rustad, the two announced that after several hours of negotiation on Monday evening, BC United would withdraw from the race.
Falcon says that after talking with thousands of British Columbians on the campaign trail, it has become clear to him that BC United needs to step aside to avoid splitting the vote with the BC Conservatives and to give them a chance at beating the governing NDP.
“There’s nothing more important to me than not giving the NDP another day in power and that’s why I made the decision as leader of BC United to suspend our campaign and withdraw our candidates,” said Falcon.
Rustad thanked Falcon for making the decision to suspend his party’s campaign, reiterating the need to defeat the NDP in October.