The BC NDP is seeking to reverse its Surrey slump after losing ground in the most important electoral region in the province.

Premier David Eby admits his government failed to appeal to wide swaths of Surrey voters in the Oct. 19 election, particularly on the issues of health care and cost-of-living.

“I wanted to see, in Surrey, much better results,” Eby told CKNW host Jas Johal this week.

“I wanted to see us not within hundreds of votes in communities … it's a message for us, it's a message we need to be in Surrey, engaging with people on the ground, face-to-face in the Valley where people are feeling these pressures acutely and they're looking for action that they can feel in their lives on these critical issues. That's what I take away from these results.”

The NDP lost a cabinet minister (Rachna Singh) and two MLAs (Mike Starchuk and Jinny Sims) in the election. It went from holding six of nine seats in Surrey in 2020, to four of 10 seats this election. Even in the ridings it did win, most of the margins were narrow and within a few hundred votes.

New Democrats would have slumped to as low as three seats in Surrey if not for Surrey-Guilford’s Garry Begg, who narrowly flipped his riding by 27 votes during the final count process.

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