The Political Plot Twist That Rocked the Week
Rustad’s party made social conservatism the coal in the furnace. Falcon added to the fire.
Looking back, the writing has been on the wall for BC United since Day 1.
The faction, for one thing, was never united. Days before the BC Liberals’ name change was finalized, the centre-right party split right through the hyphen. Kicked out of caucus for questioning climate science, Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad defected to the reliably irrelevant BC Conservatives, taking the right, the alt-right and, importantly, any momentum the rebrand had mustered with him.
The ensuing 15 months have been like watching a snake slowly strangle its prey.
On Wednesday, after more than a year of watching donors, supporters and high-profile candidates unite under Rustad instead, and only a week after polling put the BC Conservatives ahead of David Eby’s NDP, the end came for Kevin Falcon and BC United. Falcon suspended their provincial election campaign only eight weeks before B.C. votes.
“I got back into politics because I wanted to build a bright future for my two daughters and for the next generation of British Columbians,” Falcon said, in a news release.
“Today, I’m stepping back for the same reason. I know that the best thing for the future of our province is to defeat the NDP, but we cannot do that when the centre-right vote is split.”
