The B.C. Conservatives have gained another seat after the final count of votes in the October provincial election.
Conservative candidate David Xie reeled in NDP incumbent Paul Choi in Burnaby South-Metrotown, overcoming Choi’s 66-vote lead heading into the final count to win by 64 votes.
The final count across the 93 ridings in the province included about 150,000 mail-in, phone and absentee ballots, while the narrowness of Choi’s previous lead also required a recount in Burnaby South-Metrotown.
The final tally extends the Conservatives’ majority, giving them 64 seats, the NDP 27 and the Greens two.
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Conservative candidates took 47.4 per cent of the popular vote compared with the NDP’s 37.6 per cent and the Greens’ 11.2 per cent.
The only other riding where a recount was required because the margin was fewer than 100 votes before the final tally was Ladysmith-Oceanside, where NDP incumbent Stephanie Higginson prevailed by 50 votes after the recount and final tally.
Higginson beat Conservative Kris McNichol by 50 votes, extending her previous 13-vote lead that was the narrowest in B.C.
