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Read their full speeches: B.C. premier-elect Doerkson celebrates victory as Eby steps down

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Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson promised to get British Columbia “back on track” in his election-night victory speech on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, while outgoing Premier David Eby accepted responsibility for the BC NDP’s defeat and announced he would resign as party leader.

After leading the Conservatives Party of British Columbia to a very strong majority government, Doerkson outlined his priorities for attracting investment, expanding natural gas production, cutting taxes, and improving healthcare and public safety. He appealed to businesses and young people to stay in British Columbia, promising to make the province a place where they could build their futures.

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“Tonight, British Columbia made a choice, and it is going to be the honour of my lifetime to serve you as your Premier,” said Doerkson.

Eby said he had called Doerkson to congratulate him and wish him well, acknowledging that voters had assigned the BC NDP the role of official opposition. Reflecting on his provincial government’s record, he pointed to investments in public transit, housing, schools, and hospitals, while expressing regret over the defeat of BC NDP colleagues and describing the personal toll of public life on his family.

“This is obviously something I do with a very heavy heart, but it is time for new leadership within our party,” said Eby of his decision to step down.

Below are the full transcripts of Doerkson’s 16-minute-long victory speech and Eby’s six-minute-long concession and party leadership resignation speech:

Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson’s victory speech for his incoming Conservative majority government

B.C. is definitely blue. Oh my goodness. Thank you so much, everyone.

We are so glad that you’re here. Thank you to everyone in this room. And of course, everyone watching at home, what a night this is.

Together, we… Man, I am out of breath. I am so excited.

Together, we seized this opportunity, you guys. And together, we voted for a better British Columbia. And from here, I will do everything in my power to get British Columbia back on track.

To our volunteers, you knocked on doors, rain and shine. You did so much incredible work. You put up signs. You made the calls. None of this would have been possible without your hard work. And to every candidate that put their name on a ballot, and to everyone who voted tonight, including those who voted for someone else, thank you so very much.

I want to take a real quick minute just to introduce my family. Of course, I’ve got a stepson, Bryce, here. My wife, Shelly, [and] my mom, who is so proud and happy right now. Her name is Bev, everybody, and she is so happy.

Of course, my beautiful daughters, Miranda and Shelby. My granddaughter. My stepson, Damien. We are so glad to be here. But I also want to thank my team at home, because they have done an unbelievable job. And I will say this, Cariboo-Chilcotin is amazing.

My campaign team there, of course, was Donna Burnett. Many will know her. She is like a mom to me, and I’m so grateful for her co-captaining the team with Brian Withage [and] Carrie Siebert, who did an amazing job of our fundraising.

But I also wanted to thank a few people in the room: Robin, Angelina Bennett, Scott Tucker, Kane, Fraser, Scott, and Twyla. I don’t know who else is out there, but thank you, Cariboo-Chilcotin. I promise you: I’m going to work as hard as all of those volunteers did.

I want to recognise David Eby tonight. Public life asks a lot of us all. It asks a lot of a person and a lot of their family, and he has given to this province for years of both of those things. So, thank you very much, David Eby.

I also want to recognise Emily Lohan and congratulate her on an incredible campaign. British Columbians can be grateful for her passion, [and] all that she’s done to inspire thousands of young British Columbians to get involved. So, thank you, Emily.

Listen, guys, as most of you know, I’m a guy from Williams Lake. I love Cariboo-Chilcotin so much. I was actually born in New Westminster. I grew up in Surrey, and I went to Bridgeview Elementary. Then we moved north and I stayed.

And for 20 years, I ran newspapers. That was a very good education for me. You learn what’s really going on in a town: who’s hiring, who’s closing, [and] who’s hoping.

I’ve been, of course, the president of the Rotary Club and vice president of the Stampede. I have watched a lot of people get thrown at a rodeo. And I’ll say I’ve been thrown a few times myself. But what I’ve learned from the bruises is that you pick up yourself, dust yourself off, and you get back on. And the crowd gets to its feet for you because you’re trying. That is the approach that I have brought to my political life.

And as communities throughout my riding have fought fires and floods, I have stayed with my neighbours and pitched in where I could. That taught me what strong leadership for serious times really means. It isn’t loud. It’s showing up. It’s telling people the truth. It’s keeping the promises that you’ve made. It’s owning it when you get something wrong and getting back to work.

Oh my God, I am so glad to see you guys tonight. I’m going to shake every hand in the room if it takes me all night.

It taught me something else as well. A province only works if all of it works, you guys. For a very long time, a lot of British Columbians have felt like Victoria forgot about them, like the map maybe stopped at hope.

But tonight, the whole map counts for British Columbia. I believe in British Columbia, and I believe in all of it, and I’ve seen all of it. I’ve spent the better part of my life working and travelling to all corners of our beautiful province — 100 Mile House and Williams Lake, of course, Surrey and Maple Ridge, Chilliwack and Kelowna, Saanich, Sooke and Langford, [and] Richmond and Vancouver.

I have had a lot of coffee in the last couple of weeks. Frankly, I’ve had quite a bit tonight. But British Columbians are hard-working, trailblazing people. They want a fair shot at building something in this province. And that is the oldest story in this province.

First Nations built lives and nations here for thousands of years, and then came people who walked into the caribou with the clothes on their back and a dream. They carved a waggon road up the Fraser Canyon to get to the goal, and plenty of them went broke. Plenty of those camps are ghost towns today, but they went anyway for a chance to build something amazing. That is the trailblazing spirit of British Columbia, and it never left.

It just needs government that’s on its side. And together, our best days are still ahead of us, my friends. I promise you that.

So when I say that we are going to supercharge British Columbia, I want you to know where it happens. It isn’t going to happen on one street or in one city.

It happens in Kitimat, where B.C. natural gas leaves to power the world. It happens in Fort St. John, where the gas comes out of the ground.

In Prince George, Quesnel, and Williams Lake, where a mill job should still pay a family nicely.

In Kelowna and the Okanagan, where orchards run right up against the tech companies, you guys.

Up and down Vancouver Island, where the fishing boats still go out before the sun comes up.

And in the Kootenays, where they’ve been smelting metal in trail for more than a century.

In Surrey, on its way to becoming the biggest city in our province.

And yes, in Vancouver, where the ideas and the head offices are.

Every one of those places is part of the same engine.

A mill running in Quesnel keeps the trucker working in Surrey. A mine opening in the north keeps a port busy in Delta.

It’s one economy, and it runs through every town on our map in British Columbia. That is what a B.C. that works for everyone means.

We will be the catalyst, I promise you that. But you are the engine.

So what to do? What do I believe in? Well, I’ll tell you, it’s simple for me. Plain and simple, I believe in bringing investment back to British Columbia. And we will host a business summit next year in Vancouver that will be the envy of the world. We will welcome capital back to our province.

You can plan around a “no,” but you can’t plan around a “maybe.” I believe in cutting red tape.

I believe in energy. We will double, “yes.” We will cut red tape like it’s never been cut before. Double natural gas production by 2032 and triple it by 2035. Folks, that is tens of thousands of jobs in our province and at least $6 billion a year for hospitals and schools that we all depend on.

I believe in people to build, dig, and grow. More fibre on the trucks, permits in months instead of years, and backing for exploration that finds the next mine in our province. I believe in building the ports and the rail that get it all to market, and the power to run a new plant without years of waiting for grid connection. Technology that keeps species, ideas, and jobs right here.

I believe in our young people and their futures being right here in our province. And I believe, absolutely.

And I believe in you keeping more of what you earn. A $1,000 tax cut is just the start with no new taxes in British Columbia. I believe in healthcare that is fully and publicly funded. I believe rural ERs and maternity wards that are actually open.

And I believe in getting British Columbians the family doctors that they need, and the hospitals that are safe for our doctors and our nurses who work in them. And I believe in public safety that protects our communities, make sure criminals stay behind bars, and that those who need treatment actually get healthy in British Columbia.

I also believe in the protection of private property rights, and a British Columbia where parks are open to all British Columbians.

And I believe that we must pay in the right way — [being] careful with your money, and grow our economy so that careful is actually enough. Because when a province believes in itself, things start to move in British Columbia. Put it all together, and here’s what I want.

A British Columbia that is the most prosperous province in this country. The place where investment goes first and the place the best people choose to build their lives. I want B.C. [to be] where a hard day’s work gets you a family home and a future right here in this beautiful province.

I want to say a word to the people who aren’t in this room. There is a place for you here. Bring your ideas, bring your family, bring your ambitions, and somebody will pick up the phone in British Columbia.

And to the business owner that is thinking about taking what they have built somewhere else in this country, I am begging you to stay because there are incredible times.

Grow it here. We are going to make it worth your while, I promise you that.

And to the young people of our beautiful province, I am telling you to stay. This is your home, and I want you to have your best days to happen here, close to your parents and your friends, in the town that you grew up in, [and] in a place that you can afford. I promise to work for this and for you every single day.

And to our First Nations, this future is one that we will build together as partners with the certainty all of us need.

Folks, a baby was born in this province tonight. Maybe in Surrey. Maybe in Williams Lake, Prince George, Penticton or Port Hardy. But in 2036, that child turns 10. And I want our sons and daughters to grow up in a B.C. that is the envy of the world, where their parents can afford a home, [and] where they don’t have to leave town to get ahead.

Those trailblazers who walked into the caribou didn’t have a roadmap, they had hope. And that is exactly what we all need right now, is hope.

Tonight, British Columbia made a choice, and it is going to be the honour of my lifetime to serve you as your premier.

And I am going to give this job everything that I’ve got, I promise you that. And I also promise you that I won’t get it all perfect. But when I don’t, I’m going to tell you, and then I’ll get back to work.

We’ve got a province to build and I can’t think of better people to build it with than you. This is strong leadership for serious times. Let’s do this British Columbia.

We are gonna get to work unlocking the endless possibilities of our province and our people. And in every corner of it, I am ready to deliver for all British Columbians. Thank you and God bless.

I want to shake every hand in the room. Thank you.

Outgoing Premier David Eby’s concession and BC NDP party leadership resignation speech

Thank you friends. Let me, let me begin with the thank you’s. Thank you to all of the workers with Elections BC.

Thank you to all of our amazing campaign team. You worked so hard. You left nothing out on the field. You gave it your all.

I am so grateful to every volunteer, to every staff member on the campaign, to every candidate, everybody that I visited worked so hard to get the word out. Thank you.

Thank you to the people of Vancouver-Point Grey for re-electing me and for having faith in me. I began my career in that beautiful community and it is an honour and continues to be an honour to serve you.

I spoke to the leader of the Conservative party, Mr. Doerkson, and acknowledged his success in electing majority government tonight. I wished him the best and quite sincerely, this is an important time. This is a critical time for our province and for our country, and I hope for all British Columbians that he protects British Columbians, looks after us, and looks after the province.

The people of British Columbia have asked us to be the official opposition, which is obviously not the result that any of us wanted.

A number of my colleagues, some of the hardest working MLAs I know for their communities, were not elected tonight. It breaks my heart, and I accept full responsibility for that outcome.

As I was driving here in the car with my family, with Cailey, we drove past the Broadway Subway under construction. We drove past the Senakw housing development, [the] massive rental housing development by the Squamish First Nation on land that had been taken from them, that they now own. Past the new Henry Hudson School, one of 250 schools that we opened across the province.

I drove past the old St. Paul’s Hospital. They have a big sign out front about the new St. Paul’s Hospital and the amazing research building that will be there to provide cutting edge life-saving medicine to British Columbians.

I thought about the million British Columbians that now have a family doctor who didn’t before about rents dropping 24 months in a row.

Importantly, we drove past so many little stores where people are working for minimum wage and I reflected on the fact that when we started this journey, we had the lowest minimum wage in the country and now we have the highest.

This was a 15-minute drive in one city in British Columbia. We did this in every corner of British Columbia as government and we should all be proud of that.

It has been the honour of my life to serve as Premier of British Columbia, to serve as MLA, to work with all of you.

I can’t think of any better group of people to work with to serve the NDP, a social movement that finds its roots in the prairies where people just agree that working together was the best way to get forward. You in this room, my colleagues in government, our staff, our team, our volunteers, the party, you’re the best. I am forever in debt to you for this opportunity that you gave me.

I am sad to say, but I simultaneously do find some silver linings that I’ll talk about in a second.

I’m sad to say that I’ll be offering my resignation as premier, obviously, but just as importantly as the leader of the BC NDP. This is obviously something I do with a very heavy heart, but it is time for new leadership within our party.

Also, I take some comfort from the fact that my family, that has stood by me through our first run, 15 years ago, 2011, and it has been a wild ride, but my family has paid a very significant cost for this work.

I am keen to spend some time with my kids, with my wife, with our friends, and not worry if someone is videotaping me while I am singing karaoke. Thank you, friends, for everything. I hope you’re able to celebrate some victories tonight, [and] some new leaders who are stepping forward, who have been elected.

Thank you for all you do. I am so grateful, and I will never be able to repay it. Michaels, I love you.

Let’s go home. Thanks, everybody.

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