As the province awaits the formation of the next provincial government, there are lessons from the campaign that affect all political parties.

The first one is that all politics is local. Leaders can no longer say the same things in Richmond and Prince George. The fate of the two major political parties in the two biggest cities outlines the complexity of modern campaigns.

In Surrey, the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) secured six of nine seats in 2017 and seven of nine seats in 2020. The governing party could only hold on to four of 10 seats in 2024, including the last one to be called. The Conservative Party of B.C. clearly connected with their proposals on health care and transportation, making voters in Surrey wary of endorsing the current government. A lot of policy, and concrete action, will be required to entice Surrey voters back into the BC NDP fold.

Things were different in Vancouver. The BC NDP won eight of 11 ridings in 2017, nine of 11 in 2020 and 10 of 11 in 2024. In Vancouver-Yaletown, which would have gone BC Liberal four years ago if it had existed, voters favoured the New Democrats. In Vancouver-Langara, which voted BC Liberal since its creation in 1991, the BC NDP secured 48 per cent of all cast ballots. Vancouver, two years removed from the victory for Ken Sim and A Better City (ABC), tilted centre-left — something to ponder in the expected by-election to replace city........

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