Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman Leaves BC Conservatives for OneBC

Then-B.C. Conservative Party leadership candidate Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her husband, MLA Brent Chapman (L), watch as the final voting results are announced during leadership election night, in Vancouver, on May 30, 2026. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

Surrey South MLA Brent Chapman, husband of former B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay, is leaving the Tories to join the OneBC Party, which was formed in 2025 after a split with the B.C. Conservatives.

Chapman said in a Sept. 22 statement posted on social media that he needed to “hold true” to the conservative principles that brought him to the party in 2011, which meant quitting the B.C. Conservatives and joining OneBC.

He said he was optimistic when he joined the party 15 years ago and believed the Conservative name and its principles and values provided the party with “a clear sense of purpose and direction.”

However, Chapman said he came to believe there were differences within the party over how those principles were understood and the platform on which it campaigned in the 2024 provincial election.

“The disagreements within caucus, and increasingly in public, made that difficult to ignore,” Chapman wrote.

Dallas Brodie, the MLA for Vancouver-Quilchena and leader of OneBC, welcomed Chapman to the party in an online post on Sept. 22.

“We are honoured to have you. OneBC is growing, our membership is surging. British Columbians want a party that acts with clarity and integrity,” she said.

Chapman is the 13th MLA to leave the B.C. Conservatives since Aug. 14, although several of those MLAs have since returned to the caucus. The others are former leader John Rustad, former interim leader Trevor Halford, Claire Rattée, Donegal Wilson, Scott McInnis, Á'aíya Warbus, Bruce Banman, Teresa Wat, Brennan Day, Ian Paton, Rosalyn Bird, and Peter Milobar, who ran against Findlay in the leadership race.

Findlay announced on Sept. 20 that she was resigning as leader amid internal infighting and further MLA departures.

In an online post on Sept. 21, the B.C. Conservatives announced that former MLAs Linda Hepner, Rattée, Halford, McInnis, and Rustad had rejoined the party after MLA Lorne Doerkson was named interim leader.

Several MLAs joined forces with CentreBC on Sept. 18, including Milobar, who became leader of the party that day as former leader Mike Bernier stepped aside.

Chapman said he began questioning his place in the party after issues arose following Findlay’s election as leader.

He said the past few months had been “deeply personal” for him, saying he watched his wife “endure attacks from people she once stood beside.” He said some were “determined to tear down” Findlay, who he said had spent decades serving her province and country.

Chapman also said there are good people in the B.C. Conservative Party whom he still calls friends, and said he was grateful for the support the caucus gave him during his cancer treatments last year.

The B.C. Conservative Party has not commented publicly on Chapman’s resignation as of publication time.

Meanwhile, on Sept. 22, B.C. Premier David Eby called a snap election, just under two years into his mandate, with voters heading to the polls on Saturday, Oct. 24.