Former B.C. Conservative Teresa Wat joining Peter Milobar’s new party
Published 11:20 am Friday, September 11, 2026
Richmond-Bridgeport MLA Teresa Wat announced Friday that she is joining the new political party — as yet unnamed — currently led on an interim basis by Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to join Peter and the growing team of sitting MLAs to help build this new party,” Wat said in a news release announcing her decision. “I believe that this party can bring people together from across our province and replace the NDP as British Columbia’s government.”
Wat, Milobar and seven other MLAs have left the B.C. Conservative Party over the past month, complaining about the leadership of new party head Kerry-Lynne Findlay.
Including Wat, six have banded together to form a new party, though they have not named it or announced a governing framework for it yet. Whatever it is called, it will immediately become the third party in the legislature, supplanting the B.C. Green Party, which has two MLAs.
The B.C. Conservative Party is down to 28, the NDP up to 47, with eight unaffiliated former Conservatives and two seats still vacant.
Wat left the B.C. Conservatives after Findlay accused her of being a member of the Chinese Communist Party. She has been in office since 2013 and served as the minister for international trade under former premier Christy Clark.
“Teresa brings an extraordinary amount of experience to our team, both as a legislator and a former
Cabinet Minister,” Milobar said in a news release. “Our team is growing because there is a clear appetite for a serious alternative to the NDP.”