CentreBC is a right-liberal provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party was founded by Karin Kirkpatrick, a former MLA from BC United. The party was created in 2025 after BC United leader Kevin Falcon's refusal to resign as leader following his controversial decision to suspend BC United's 2024 election campaign.

Peter Milobar, MLA for Kamloops Centre, was briefly leader in September of 2026, before rejoining the BC Conservatives after a snap election was called for October 24, 2026.

History Two years before the foundation of CentreBC, the British Columbia Liberal Party changed its name to BC United on April 12, 2023. This was to reflect that the BC Liberals had not been affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada since 1987 and had occupied the right wing of the British Columbian political spectrum as the primary opponent of the left-leaning New Democratic Party since the 1990s. The name change may also have been motivated in order to further separate the party from the federal Liberals where, according to campaign strategist Allie Blades, 'the B.C. Liberal name confused and turned off voters who did not support the federal Liberals.' However, this rebranding was widely seen as a failure, with support for BC United crashing in the provincial opinion polls, and many of its supporters switching to the Conservative Party of British Columbia under leader John Rustad. By August 14, 2024, BC United was projected to earn just 10% of the popular vote and lose all its seats in the upcoming 2024 British Columbia general election. On August 28, BC United leader Kevin Falcon announced that he had suspended the party's election campaign and would be endorsing the BC Conservatives. This decision was criticized by many BC United MLAs, including Karin Kirkpatrick of West Vancouver-Capilano, who called on Falcon to resign. Kirkpatrick decided to continue running as an independent in the next election along with 16 other former BC United candidates; none of them were elected.

In February 2025, Kirkpatrick called on Falcon to resign again; Falcon refused to do so, claiming that the funds needed to hold a leadership election would further sink the now-indebted party into financial ruin. On March 28, 2025, Kirkpatrick founded CentreBC as a new political party, to serve as an option for moderate British Columbian voters who would otherwise have to choose between the Conservatives and the New Democrats.

On June 20, 2026, Kirkpatrick stepped down as party leader. On July 18, 2026, Mike Bernier, former BC United MLA for Peace River South and former mayor of Dawson Creek, was named the new leader of the party.

On September 18, 2026, following discussions between the two, Mike Bernier resigned the leadership, allowing Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar to become party leader while he and seven other former BC Conservative MLAs joined the party.

After the call of a provincial election on September 22, 2026, Milobar resigned his position as leader to return to the BC Conservatives along with six CentreBC MLAs, excluding Elenore Sturko. Sturko then became the new leader that day.

Party leaders +#LeaderTerm of office 1 Karin KirkpatrickMarch 28, 2025 – June 20, 2026 2 Mike BernierJuly 18, 2026 – September 18, 2026 3 Peter MilobarSeptember 18, 2026 – September 22, 2026 4 Elenore SturkoSeptember 22, 2026 – present

MLAs

Elenore Sturko, Surrey-Cloverdale

Former

Bruce Banman, Abbotsford South Donegal Wilson, Boundary-Similkameen Áʼa:líya Warbus, Chilliwack-Cultus Lake Ian Paton, Delta South Rosalyn Bird, Prince George-Valemount Teresa Wat, Richmond-Bridgeport Peter Milobar, Kamloops Centre

Upcoming 2026 provincial election ridings

Abbotsford West Abbotsford-Mission Burnaby Centre Chilliwack North Coquitlam-Burke Mountain Courtenay-Comox Delta North Esquimalt-Colwood Kootenay-Rockies Langford-Highlands Langley-Walnut Grove Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows North Vancouver-Seymour Oak Bay-Gordon Head Port Moody-Burquitlam Richmond-Steveston Saanich North and the Islands Salmon Arm-Shuswap Surrey City Centre Surrey North Surrey South Surrey-Cloverdale Surrey-Fleetwood Surrey-Newton Surrey-Panorama Surrey-Serpentine River Surrey-White Rock Vancouver-Hastings Vancouver-Langara Vancouver-Point Grey Vancouver-Quilchena Vancouver-Renfrew Vancouver-South Grenville Vancouver-Yaletown West Vancouver-Sea to Sky

Election results

ElectionLeaderCandidates runSeats wonVotesVote shareSeat changePositionResultNotes2026 Elenore Sturko TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

Notes

References

External links Official website