It’s being called the “orange crush,” as the NDP appear to have won a majority government, picking up over a dozen seats, in Saturday’s provincial election.
Premier John Horgan and the NDP hold 55 seats, the Liberals have 29 and the Green Party has 3.
NDP Leader John Horgan now becomes the first two-term premier in his party’s history.
There could still be some changes, since the huge demand for mail-in ballots means the final results won’t be known until some time next month.
Each mail-in ballot must be screened to ensure there is no double voting, and the eligibility of each voter must be verified before the counting can begin nearly two weeks from now.
Throughout the campaign, the public opinion polls gave the NDP a comfortable lead over Andrew Wilkinson’s Liberals and Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau in Cowichan.
This is the first NDP majority since 1996.
If the number of seats still stands at 55 it would break the previous party record of 51 seats in 1991.
In the North Island riding, the NDP’s Michelle Babchuk was declared the winner.
- Michelle Babchuk (NDP) – 7,666 votes
- Norm Facey (Liberal) – 3,931 votes
- Alexandra Morton (Green) – 3,285 votes
- John Twigg (Conservative) – 1,121 votes
– Story by Mike Patterson
