Former New Westminster MP Paul Forseth won't be the new president of the B.C. Conservative Party.
At the party's Sept. 22 annual general meeting in Langley, Forseth lost out in his bid to Al Seibring, a councillor in the district of North Cowichan on Vancouver Island.
"I came in a distant second," Forseth told The Record on Tuesday morning. "I have communicated back and forth with Al and I think he has the experience and the unquestioned commitment to the party to get the job done. ... I think we're in good hands with Al."
Forseth's loss wasn't the biggest news coming out of Langley on the weekend, as Conservative leader John Cummins survived a leadership review, only to learn hours later that the party's sole MLA, John Van Dongen, had resigned his membership in the party.
Van Dongen said he will sit as an independent in Victoria when the legislature resumes sitting next spring.
Forseth weighed in with his thoughts on van Dongen's departure.
"Obviously, he had some sort of agenda coming into the meeting," said Forseth. "During John (Cummins') noon speech, there was a lot of fact and real good substantive material and John van Dongen just sat there on his hands. ... That's when we knew something obviously was going on.
"I think we can infer that John (van Dongen) joined the party with his own agenda and he wants to be seen as a great knight riding in on a white horse. He wasn't prepared to be one member of a good solid team. John Cummins brought us from nowhere and he has the right to lead us into the next election."
Also voted in to the Conservatives' executive were Christine Clark as vice-president, Linda Bellamy as secretary and re-elected treasurer Lambert Leung. Bellamy and Leung won their spots by acclamation.
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