Bruce Banman, who was one of the first MLAs to represent the provincial Conservatives, giving it official party status in the British Columbia legislature, says he has left the caucus to sit as an Independent.
Banman, who represents the riding of Abbotsford South, is the sixth Conservative MLA to defect this month under Kerry-Lynne Findlay's leadership.
He says in a statement the political tent needed to defeat Premier David Eby's New Democrats should be getting bigger, not smaller, and it had become clear another NDP win was becoming increasingly likely with the Conservatives' current direction.
Banman says he and former Conservative Leader John Rustad started working together in 2023 with a focus on fiscal responsibility and "bringing common sense back" to politics in B.C., and he's proud the party came so close to forming government in the provincial election in 2024.
But he says "person after person" has informed him they believe Findlay, who does not currently have a seat in the legislature, is "unelectable."
Banman says he is joining other MLAs who have chosen to sit as Independents and he's encouraging fellow legislators, regardless of political affiliation, to join him.
