Kerry-Lynne Findlay, former MP for South Surrey—White Rock, has been elected as the new leader of the B.C. Conservative Party.

She won with 51 percent of the votes.

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Commentator and candidate Caroline Elliott placed second in the close race on Saturday.

 Findlay says she will be fighting for nothing less than British Columbians’ way of life, and promises what she calls a “grand vision of fundamental change.”

The former federal revenue minister says she will cut taxes and red tape, return B.C.’s budget to surplus, and help the province recover from economic stagnation.

She says B.C. will become strong again after accusing the province’s NDP government of blocking good-paying jobs, modern infrastructure, and resource wealth.

“NDP radical ideology has devastated property rights, backroom side agreements, and the NDP’s economic vandalism has to end,” she said in her victory speech.

Findlay says her future Conservative government will emphasize faith, family, and freedom.

“Free people making free choices and free speech in a free enterprise market economy,” she added.

The other candidates, current MLA Peter Milobar, entrepreneur Yuri Fulmer, and former MLA Iain Black were eliminated in the three previous ballot counts.

All five candidates had to pay more than $100,000 to join the race.

Ballots were sent out earlier this month and about 26,000 verified members had until Friday to rank their candidates in a preferred vote, with the party’s executive director saying Thursday that 95 per cent had voted.

Under John Rustad’s leadership, the party emerged from obscurity to come within about 30,000 votes of winning the 2024 provincial election.

Infighting fractured the caucus and reduced Conservative members in the legislature by five, and eventually led to Rustad’s expulsion in December.

The new leader will be announced at the party’s leadership convention in Vancouver.

A sixth former Conservative, Hon Chan, was removed from the caucus this year after it emerged he had been charged with assault in a case of alleged intimate partner violence.

– With files from The Canadian Press.