iN NUMBERS: How the Thompson-Okanagan helped the BC Conservative sweep

It’s the end of a dizzying, surprise provincial election which backfired on the BC NDP. The province is blue for the first time in nearly 100 years. Here’s a glimpse into what that looked like in the Thompson-Okanagan region.

Here are the numbers:

• 48.14: Per cent. That was the voter turnout for the provincial election over the weekend. If you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain.
• 0: That’s how many seats the NDP won in Thompson-Okanagan.
• 2: Seats flipped from BC NDP to BC Conservatives in the Okanagan. Penticton-Summerland, which was orange because of floor-crosser Amelia Boultbee, and Vernon-Lumby.
• 63: That’s how many seats the BC Conservatives won in total. They needed 47 for a majority government.
• 17,232: People voted for Kamloops-North Thompson’s Ward Stamer, the highest vote count for a candidate in the whole election.
• 2: That’s how many times BC Conservative Kristina Loewen has narrowly defeated BC NDP’s Loyal Wooldridge. The first time it was by 40 votes, this time it was by 132.
• 23: Per cent of BC Conservative voters polled were primarily motivated by their desire for change rather than support for the Premier-elect Lorne Doerkson.
• 28: Per cent of BC Conservative voters polled said they cared about the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.
• 24: Per cent of BC Conservative voters polled care about sexual orientation and gender ideology education.
• 57: Per cent of BC Conservative voters polled care about lowering taxes.
• 1928: That was the last time the BC Conservatives formed a government.
• 10: Of November. That’s when the vote count is finalized and all of this becomes official.