It’s official: John Rustad is no longer the leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia.
Rustad, the former leader of the Official Opposition, announced his resignation on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, the Conservative Party made the announcement that Rustad had been removed after a caucus vote and named Trevor Halford the interim leader.
The Conservative Party’s announcement said that Rustad was “professionally incapacitated.”
In a now-deleted post on X, Rustad initially denied the decision, saying, “I have not resigned, I have not been removed, and I am not going anywhere.”
Rustad seemingly backed away from that comment when he faced reporters on Thursday morning, saying that despite support from his closest confidants to keep going, he has made the decision to resign.
“I’m just going to start out with the obvious here this morning that I am announcing that I am stepping down as the leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia,” he said.
Rustad said that he would still be staying on as MLA for Nachako-Lakes.
Reporters asked Rustad what changed, and he responded by saying he talked to a lot of his supporters who encouraged him to carry on.
“But in order to do that, would be the creation of civil war within the Conservative Party of British Columbia,” he told reporters.
Many of his Conservative peers have gone on social media to praise Rustad’s work during the last provincial election in which he nearly walked away as the leader of British Columbia. That includes the Conservative Party of British Columbia, which extended its “deepest gratitude” to Rustad.
The Conservatives said Rustad, “led our party into its ascendence and made history. We wish him and his family all the best in their next chapter.”