Jennifer Whiteside has been named interim leader of the B.C. NDP.
The party’s reduced 28-member caucus met Thursday in Victoria to chart a path forward after its crushing election loss on Saturday.
Whiteside said the caucus decision to appoint her was unanimous.
She said British Columbians had sent the party an important message.
“They have asked that we sit as the Official Opposition, and we will take on that work with determination, with thoughtfulness, always putting people at the centre of everything that we do.”
Whiteside is the MLA-elect for New Westminster-Coquitlam and has served in the legislature since 2020.
She was labour minister in David Eby’s cabinet and previously served as minister of mental health and addictions and minister of education.
Whiteside also said Mike Farnworth would serve as opposition house leader. The veteran legislator won a seventh term as MLA for Port Coquitlam. He has overseen a variety of portfolios and previously served as government house leader.
Former attorney general and deputy premier Niki Sharma will serve as caucus chair.
The caucus gained three new MLAs, but lost 19 seats as the B.C. Conservatives soared to a “supermajority” government on Saturday. The result prompted Eby to resign as NDP leader on election night.
Eby called the snap election on Sept. 22, two years early, hoping to strengthen the slim one-seat majority the NDP won in 2024.
The election call came after weeks of turmoil in the B.C. Conservative caucus, then the Official Opposition, including a mass exodus of MLAs, the resignation of leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay and the rushed appointment of Lorne Doerkson as interim leader.
Members rallied around Doerkson, however, and the Conservatives won 63 seats.
Political experts point to record-low voter turnout as a factor in the NDP’s loss. Preliminary results show the NDP earned about 228,000 fewer votes than it did in the 2024 election. Support for the Conservatives was also down, but it was a smaller loss of fewer than 22,000 votes.
Stewart Prest, a lecturer in political science at the University of British Columbia, told Vista News that the NDP failed to inspire previous supporters to return to the polls just two years after the previous provincial election.
He pointed to accusations that the election timing was opportunistic, and criticism for holding a provincial election campaign while municipal elections were ongoing.
“And on top of that, having an election just two years after the last election, when the government still has a majority. All these reasons were giving NDP voters permission just to sit this one out to say, your premier has not gotten this right,” he said.
Eby did not attend Thursday’s caucus meeting. He did join a gathering of his former caucus on Wednesday, where members and those who lost their seats reflected on the outcome of the election.
Sharma said it was an emotional meeting, and there were some tears as members said goodbye to former colleagues and staff.
She said Eby apologized to members and accepted responsibility for the losses, as he did in his concession speech.
“Clearly it was a mistake,” said Sharma, commenting on the decision to call an election.
“And now our job is to move forward,” she said.
Sharma did not rule out a possible run in the planned leadership race.
“We need to be unified,” said Langford-Highlands MLA Ravi Parmar. “We let people down by calling this election and there are a lot of people out there who are scared of what’s to come.”
