‘Doerkson conservative party’ isn’t BC Liberals nor 2024 Conservatives: adviser

VICTORIA — A B.C. Conservative strategist poised to take a key role in premier-designate Lorne Doerkson’s office says the party has evolved beyond what it was in 2024, without morphing into a new version of the B.C. Liberals

Angelo Isidorou, who is widely credited as an architect of the party’s rise from political obscurity just a few years ago, has been named Doerkson’s principal secretary after serving as the Conservatives’ executive director and campaign manager.

“I don’t think it’s the BC Liberals, but I also don’t think it’s the old B.C. Conservative Party either,” Isidorou said in an interview.

“I think it’s the Lorne Doerkson conservative party.”

Isidorou said the premier-designate crafted a “positive message” that made the party more appealing, compared to the race in 2024, when Isidorou helped former leader John Rustad bring the party to the brink of power.

Just four years earlier, it had received less than two per cent of the vote.

“We ran on a populist message in 2024, and it was an aggressive, shall I say, negative populist message,” he said.

“We didn’t give enough people permission to vote for us (in 2024),” he added.

But it was a “false dichotomy” to alternatively think of the party that triumphed with a thumping two-thirds majority in the Oct. 24 snap election as the BC Liberals 2.0, he said.

The BC Liberals had been a dominant force in B.C. politics for decades, taking economically conservative but socially moderate stances, before imploding ahead of the 2024 election. Many of the most prominent figures in the incoming government — including Doerkson — were first elected as BC Liberals.

“I think (the BC Liberal comparison) is ultimately incorrect, because we didn’t run on a carbon tax,” he said. “It’s not likely we didn’t run on getting rid of DRIPA or SOGI. We did all that. We ran on a Conservative platform.”

He was referring to the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which Doerkson has vowed to repeal, and a sexual orientation and gender identity framework for schools.

“We have red lines that we care about, and we want you to care about those issues too,” he said. “But ultimately, we are going to prioritize you and your issues.”

He said “you can call it moderate,” but the party’s policies have not necessarily changed that much.

“So really, it’s about tone, temperament, and how you present yourself to people, and having some emotional intelligence, and how you communicate.”

Other appointments were announced on Monday. Allie Blades has been named deputy chief of staff and Shane Mills appointed as executive director of communications.

Dimitri Pantazopoulos was appointed Doerkson’s chief of staff last week.

The appointments are expected to take effect when Doerkson is sworn in as premier later this month.

The Conservatives won a decisive 64 seats in the 93-seat legislature in October’s election.

Isidorou briefly left his strategic roles in the party this year under the leadership of Kerry-Lynne Findlay, but he returned as the campaign’s chief strategist after Findlay resigned ahead of the snap election.

He said that as a principal secretary, he will do whatever it takes to drive the government’s legislative agenda. “I’m certainly an adviser to the premier and to the chief of staff, and basically I’m put to work, wherever needed.”

Isidorou said he hasn’t been briefed yet about Doerkson’s early legislative agenda, but B.C. should expect a focus on pocketbook issues.

“I think the economy is really going to be front and centre,” he said, adding that other top-of-mind issues include keeping hospital emergency rooms open.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2026.