BC United has work to do after ‘collapse’ in byelection: pundit

Elena Lawson has no doubt why her party struggled to win votes in Saturday’s byelection: brand confusion and low voter turnout.

The B.C. Liberal party changed its name to BC United in April. Lawson said when she was door-knocking, many asked: “What is the BC United party?”

Lawson figures some of the BC United’s traditional vote moved to the B.C. Conservatives because voters were familiar with the signs and colours of the federal Conservative Party of Canada.

Preliminary results had Lawson finishing in fourth place Saturday with 8.6 per cent of the vote, a drop from 2020 when the B.C. Liberal candidate pulled in 14.9 per cent and placed third.

Lawson, the co-founder of the Children’s Autism Federation of B.C., predicts the uncertainty about the party’s brand will disappear by the time the next general election comes around on Oct. 19, 2024.