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British Columbia’s already volatile political landscape is being reshaped again. Five MLAs who recently left the Conservative Party of B.C. are joining forces to establish a new provincial party, transforming weeks of caucus turmoil into an organized challenge on the centre-right.
Peter Milobar and Ian Paton are being joined by Rosalyn Bird, Bruce Banman and Áʼa꞉líya Warbus. The group has not yet unveiled a party name or a detailed platform, but it intends to choose a leader before the legislature returns on October 5. Its arrival comes only two years after B.C.’s centre-right dramatically consolidated behind the Conservatives for the 2024 election. Now, that consolidation is beginning to fracture, potentially creating another competitive force between Premier David Eby’s NDP and the Conservatives under Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Five MLAs Turn a Caucus Revolt Into an Organized Party
Five Conservative Defectors Join Forces to Build New B.C. Political Party
The new organization immediately brings together legislators representing very different parts of British Columbia. Interim leader Peter Milobar represents Kamloops Centre, while Ian Paton represents Delta South. Rosalyn Bird holds Prince George-Valemount, Bruce Banman represents Abbotsford South, and Áʼa꞉líya Warbus represents Chilliwack-Cultus Lake. That gives the group a footprint stretching from the Interior and northern B.C. to Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley rather than concentrating its support in one region.
Their announcement is also more significant than five MLAs simply choosing to sit together as independents. The group intends to establish a formal political organization and enter the legislature with official third-party status. Milobar will serve as interim leader while the caucus conducts an internal leadership vote ahead of the October 5 return of the legislature. For voters, that creates a potentially durable new option instead of a temporary collection of politicians who broke with their former caucus.
Findlay’s Leadership Became the Breaking Point
The rupture accelerated after Kerry-Lynne Findlay narrowly won the B.C. Conservative leadership on May 30. She defeated Caroline Elliott on the fourth ballot with 51 per cent of the weighted points compared with Elliott’s 49 per cent. Milobar had also competed in that leadership race but finished fifth on the opening ballot with 10.5 per cent. Within months, disagreement over the direction, internal management and political strategy of the party had spilled publicly into the caucus.
Nine Conservative MLAs departed during the recent wave of resignations, with Donegal Wilson and Scott McInnis becoming the eighth and ninth to leave in early September. The losses have pushed the Conservative caucus to 28 seats, a striking reversal for a party that elected 44 MLAs in October 2024. Although the Conservatives remain the Official Opposition, the scale and speed of the departures have given the new five-member group an unusual opportunity to establish itself immediately inside the legislature.
The New Group Is Targeting a Different Centre-Right Lane
The five MLAs are presenting their project as an alternative for voters who oppose the NDP but no longer feel comfortable with the Conservative Party’s direction. Milobar has said a full platform is not yet ready, but he identified the economy, natural-resource development, health care and private-property rights as major priorities. Bird has similarly highlighted affordability, taxation and land issues. The emphasis is on presenting practical policy choices rather than defining the organization principally through ideological battles.
That positioning could become the party’s most important political test. Banman has argued that right-of-centre British Columbians should have another option, while Warbus has emphasized the need to become election-ready quickly enough to challenge the NDP. Milobar has described the objective in even broader terms: building a credible organization capable eventually of forming government. Those ambitions are substantial for a party that does not yet have a publicly announced name, permanent leader or completed policy platform.
B.C.’s Centre-Right Has Come Full Circle in Just Two Years
The development carries an unusual historical echo. On August 28, 2024, BC United suspended its province-wide election campaign and effectively cleared the path for the surging Conservatives, arguing that competing centre-right parties risked helping the NDP. Elections BC later described the withdrawal as an unprecedented situation under the province’s current campaign-finance framework. The consolidation worked electorally: the Conservatives jumped to 44 seats in the 2024 election, only three behind the NDP’s 47.
Now part of that coalition is separating again. Several members of the new five-person group also have roots in the former BC Liberal/BC United organization. Milobar and Paton were first elected as BC Liberals in 2017. Banman was elected under the same banner in 2020 before crossing to the Conservatives in 2023. That history does not make the new organization a revival of BC United, but it illustrates how quickly B.C.’s centre-right has repeatedly reorganized as politicians search for a coalition broad enough to win government.
The Clock Is Already Running on Building a Viable Party
Creating a caucus is only the first stage. A provincial party must satisfy Elections BC’s registration requirements before receiving benefits such as appearing under its party name on ballots, issuing eligible political-contribution tax receipts and incurring election expenses as a registered party. Registration requires, among other things, at least two principal officers, a financial agent, an auditor and evidence that the organization’s primary purpose is fielding candidates. Outside an election period, the chief electoral officer generally has up to 30 days to determine whether an application meets the requirements.
The political timetable is even more demanding. The group wants its leadership settled before MLAs return to Victoria on October 5, leaving only weeks to establish its public identity. Under B.C.’s fixed-date framework, the next scheduled provincial election would fall in October 2028 unless an earlier election occurs. That gives the five defectors roughly two years to move from a legislative caucus to a province-wide electoral organization capable of recruiting candidates, raising money and persuading voters that another centre-right realignment can last.
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