B.C. Conservatives vote to keep John Cummins as leader

By Tiffany Crawford, Vancouver SunSeptember 22, 2012 12:26 PM

METRO VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Conservatives have voted to keep party leader John Cummins.
Out of 1,104 ballots asking members whether they were in favour of a leadership contest, only 28 per cent said yes they wanted a review of Cummins' leadership.  Conservatives erupted in applause as the results were read out. The vote was 788 to 316 in favour of keeping Cummins at the helm. Cummins, 70 has been leader of the B.C. Conservatives since May, 2011. Earlier this week, a group working to oust Cummins announced it wanted to replace the party executive with its own slate. The group, which calls itself the Friends of the B.C. Conservative Party, is led by former party candidate Ben Besler of Chilliwack. The slate includes Betty Newton of New Westminster, John Crocock, Ariane Eckardt, the Burnaby North constituency president and Surrey regional director James Ram.  Vancouver Kingsway constituency president Milan Kljajic and Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows constituency president Robbie Armstrong are also among the dissident group. A group backing Cummins called the "A-Team" also emerged led by North Cowichan councillor Al Siebring. Siebring is running for party president. The election of a new executive will take place later this afternoon.The B.C. Conservatives were dealt a blow Friday when star candidate John Martin defected to the BC Liberals.