On the last full day of the BC campaign, the BC War Room heard from inside the Conservative war room. Michael Gardiner and Azim Jiwani were joined on Day 32 by Angelo Isidorou, Conservative strategist and former executive director of the Conservative Party of BC, who helped rebuild the party starting in 2022. Advance voting closed with 891,348 ballots cast, down more than 11% from 2024.
The newest Leger poll has the Conservatives ahead 44 to 39, and Lorne Doerkson closed with a rally in Surrey-Newton. Isidorou described the war room as lively but still feeling the whiplash of a month that began with a different leader and a party in turmoil. He traced the arc from a scrappy takeover in 2022 to the near-win of 2024, and said Doerkson has done a better job than anyone at bringing former BC United supporters into the fold.
In 2024, he said, the challenge was giving voters permission to vote Conservative. This time, Doerkson's normalcy and competence have turned that corner. Gardiner credited the Conservative campaign for keeping the focus on Doerkson rather than on candidates outside the mainstream, and said the race has become a referendum on the two leaders.
Isidorou's lesson from the snap call: a government that calls an early election had better be able to define what it's about. Jiwani argued the NDP lost its own ballot question on trust by calling an election many saw as opportunistic. The panel split on the Greens. Isidorou predicted their vote is consolidating rather than collapsing, helped by Vancouver Mayor-elect Pete Fry's endorsement of Emily Lowan. Gardiner asked whether nervous Green voters might still move to the NDP in the final hours.
On SkyTrain, Isidorou said Newton comes first, and that the UBC line may have to wait its turn. His ridings to watch: Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, Juan de Fuca-Malahat, Richmond-Steveston and Surrey's Guildford, City Centre and Fleetwood. Whoever wins Surrey, he said, likely wins government. Reflecting on the journey, Isidorou said the most meaningful moments are voters telling the party they need it to succeed.
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