The NDP's Ravi Parmar captured the riding of Langford-Highlands in what he described as the closest provincial election in his memory.
“I’m grateful to the people of Langford-Highlands for choosing me to continue the work of (former MLA) John Horgan and the others that came before me,” said Parmar, as he addressed an assembly of his supporters at his Langford campaign headquarters on Saturday night.
“My priorities will be to continue to build new schools, building up the infrastructure, improving health care and doing all of the things that the people of Langford-Highlands expect of their MLA.”
As Parvar spoke, the atmosphere in the campaign headquarters had relaxed considerably from the palpably tense attention that his supporters had paid to election coverage earlier in the night. About 50 supporters and campaign workers had gathered around the TV, watching the results as they came in – cheering when an NDP candidate took the lead and uttering groans when they fell behind.
In the end, however, Parmar was declared the winner of the race, beyond the threshold for a mandatory recount and smiles returned to the assembled crowd.
With all of the polls reporting, preliminary results show Parmar with 10,936 votes, followed by B.C. Conservative Mike Harris with 8,036 votes and Erin Cassels of the B.C. Green Party with 2,284 votes.
“It was a tight, tough race,” said Richa Sharna, Parmar’s campaign manager. “We were in the community every single day and although it was close and, at times, more toxic than I would have liked, we kept a positive attitude and fought really hard.”
The NDP currently holds a slim lead in the battle for control of the B.C. Legislature, with the NDP leading in 46 ridings, B.C. Conservatives with 45 and B.C. Green holding the lead in two seats.
"I mean, there is a possibility tonight that there is a minority government with the NDP with the most seats, but relying on the Greens, and we were there in 2017. That was a good government led by John Horgan," said outgoing cabinet minister Rob Fleming.
"There will be some very interesting conversations between both the Greens and Premier David Eby in the coming days."
Parmar won a June 2023 by-election to replace outgoing MLA John Horgan with 53.3 per cent of the vote.
