BC United (formerly British Columbia Liberal Party) has dropped to a third-place position in public support and now trails the resurgent Conservative Party of B.C. The BC Conservatives haven’t seen this kind of support in decades and it’s due to BC United committing a cardinal sin in politics: They disrespected their members.
The BC Liberal Party had long been a unique entity in Canada. It separated itself from the federal Liberal Party in the late 1980s and evolved into a conservative-leaning party in the 1990s to counter the BC NDP. The BC Liberals were typically only Liberal in name when they came to power and governed from the centre-right from 2001 until 2017. Since losing power in the 2017 election, the BC Liberals have been adrift while the NDP sits in a majority government.
Andrew Wilkinson resigned as the BC Liberal leader after suffering electoral defeat in the 2020 general election. Kevin Falcon was elected as the new leader in February 2022 with a platform calling to rename and rebrand the party. The party did indeed succeed in changing its name but the new brand isn’t resonating with BC voters. A large segment of the party’s base was alienated as party operators made it clear they weren’t interested in a big tent when they disqualified leadership contender Aaron Gunn from the race.