John Rustad has officially resigned as the leader of the British Columbia Conservative Party. His resignation came after a significant vote by party members to remove him and appoint Trevor Halford, the MLA for South Surrey-White Rock, as interim leader. Rustad announced his decision to the caucus on Thursday morning, stating, "I will be remaining an MLA and carrying out the work that needs to be done with regards to representing my riding of Nechako Lakes." He expressed pride in his role in revitalizing the party, saying, "It’s been a great honour building this party, taking this thing from where it was, and bringing the Conservative Party back to life in this province."

The turmoil began on Wednesday when a letter, signed by 20 of the 39 Conservative MLAs, was sent to party president Aisha Estey. The letter, drafted by lawyer Bruce Hallsor, indicated that a majority of the caucus had lost confidence in Rustad's leadership. In response, Rustad held a press conference, asserting that he had no plans to resign. He argued that the only ways to remove a leader are through a leadership vote or if the leader resigns, dies, or becomes incapacitated. Rustad pointed to a previous leadership review where he received 71 percent support, stating, "Some people obviously don’t accept that. I understand that. Happy to hear their voices on it, but it doesn’t change that I’m moving forward as the leader of the Conservative Party of British Columbia."

However, party board members disagreed with Rustad's interpretation. They ruled that the majority of MLAs wanting him gone constituted "professional incapacitation," allowing for his removal. A caucus vote earlier that day confirmed Halford as the interim leader. This led to a tense atmosphere in the legislature, with many MLAs urging Rustad to step down. A small group of loyalists, including caucus chair Jody Toor and deputy whip Reann Gasper, insisted that the process was being mishandled. Gasper stated, "There is an order to this process and this is out of order."

Rustad contended that the board had misinterpreted the party's constitution, claiming that their reasoning was based on "creative terminology" that did not justify his removal. Halford himself seemed uncertain about his new role, saying, "We’re trying to figure that out."

As the day progressed, Rustad took his place in the leader's chair one last time, while Halford entered the chamber with a group of supportive caucus members. By the end of the day, the situation remained unresolved, and it appeared that clarity might not come until the new year. However, by Thursday morning, Rustad seemed to acknowledge the inevitability of his resignation. He reflected, "I think there’s plenty of opportunities to have fought this and to go forward and do this, but essentially that’s saying I want a civil war, I want to have sides divided, I want to take our party and drag it through a fight. And I just look at that, and I think that’s not why I built this Conservative Party."