Harman Bhangu, the member of the legislature for Langley-Abbotsford, has announced he's running to become leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party.
Bhangu becomes the 11th person to seek the job and said in a statement on Wednesday that he wants to be the leader and the next premier of the province because too many B.C. residents are paying the price for decisions that they didn't make.
Before running in the last election, Bhangu was a vice-president in the party and said he helped build it from nothing because he believes in the grassroots conservative principles of hard work, responsibility and the rule of law.
Bhangu told reporter in the legislature Wednesday that he wants to represents the blue collar class, which has been left behind.
"Their buying power was shrunk under this government," he says. "We need a government that puts them first, and that is what I'm here to do."
While Bhangu was among the first to declare his interest in running for the leadership, he is among the last to formally announce his candidacy.
Bhangu said he was sitting back to see if someone would enter the race who was willing to give some credit to the Conservative caucus for the work they have done.
Bhangu, who became the fifth Conservative MLA to run for the leadership, said all his colleagues running for leader have paid credit to the caucus.
"But I hear the outside noise," he said, noting that many people have been saying that somebody from the outside should be leading the party.
"I haven't seen that unifying figure yet, and that's why I am stepping up, because I want to represent the people in this room that have worked hard."
However, Bhangu said he will support whomever wins the race.
"We need Conservatives to be united … and we need to move forward and keep one thing in mind and that is defeating this government."
The leadership vote will be held May 30, but before then each candidate must pay a $115,000 entry fee.
The party's nomination deadline was Feb. 15 and each candidate was expected to have at least 250 signatures from five different regions.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
