SURREY, B.C. - Harj Dhaliwal of the Conservative Party of BC is set to win Surrey-Newton in the Oct. 24, 2026 provincial election, leading BC NDP incumbent Jessie Sunner by 1,859 votes in Elections BC’s final election-night count.
Update, Oct. 25: Elections BC’s final election-night count gave Dhaliwal 7,333 votes to Sunner’s 5,474, a margin of 1,859. Results are preliminary; the final count runs Nov. 6 to 10.
Dhaliwal took 7,333 votes and 54.52% of the vote in Surrey-Newton, in Elections BC’s final election-night count. Results remain preliminary; Elections BC’s final count runs Nov. 6 to 10, 2026, and the result is not official until that count is complete.
Full Surrey-Newton results
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harj Dhaliwal | Conservative Party of BC | 7,333 | 54.52% |
| Jessie Sunner | BC NDP | 5,474 | 40.70% |
| Harman Preet Singh | CentreBC | 644 | 4.79% |
Elections BC counted 13,451 valid votes in Surrey-Newton in the final election-night count. Dhaliwal’s lead of 1,859 votes was the final election-night margin. The final count in November will also add mail-in and other ballots not counted on election night.
The result flips a riding the NDP has held for years. Sunner won Surrey-Newton in 2024 with 7,924 votes (51.2%), ahead of Conservative Tegjot Bal at 6,658 (43.0%), a margin of 1,266 votes. Before Sunner, the seat was held by NDP stalwart Harry Bains. This time Sunner, the incumbent MLA, finished well back in second, while CentreBC’s Harman Preet Singh took third.
Who is Harj Dhaliwal
Dhaliwal is a business executive, educator and community leader with a background in organizational leadership, governance, public transportation and community development. He holds an MBA and a PhD in Organization Development and Leadership, has taught business and management courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and has held senior executive and leadership roles in both the private and post-secondary sectors, leading complex organizations and major construction development initiatives across British Columbia.
His public-sector governance record is a centrepiece of his profile: six years as a Director of TransLink, Metro Vancouver’s transit authority, and four years on the board of the BC SPCA. He has also been a longtime leader in youth soccer in Newton and across the region, serving as Chair of the South Fraser District Association, Chair of the Surrey Metro Soccer Association, a board member of the BC Coastal Soccer League and President of the Central City Breakers Football Club in Newton. Dhaliwal has lived in Surrey for 28 years, where he and his wife raised their family.
What it means for Newton residents
Surrey-Newton covers the Newton town centre, Surrey’s largest town centre and one of the city’s most diverse communities, and its voters now send an MLA to Victoria who sits with the governing party. The riding is one of Surrey’s most transit-dependent communities, anchored by the Newton Exchange transit hub at King George Boulevard and 72 Avenue, and Dhaliwal’s years on the TransLink board put transit service on King George Boulevard and the 72 Avenue corridor at the top of his local file. Newton residents will also be watching the new government on growth and redevelopment around the town centre, school capacity at Newton schools such as Frank Hurt and Princess Margaret secondaries, the Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus on 72 Avenue, and access to family doctors and health care for the riding’s fast-growing population.
Conservatives form a majority government
Dhaliwal’s win is part of a province-wide Conservative victory. As of 10:46 p.m. PT, Elections BC’s preliminary results showed the Conservative Party of BC leading in 64 of 93 districts, the BC NDP leading in 27 and the BC Green Party in 2. A party needs 47 seats for a majority, and the Conservatives, led into the election by interim leader Lorne Doerkson, will form a majority government, ending nine years of BC NDP government. Conservative candidates led in all 10 Surrey ridings late Saturday night.
Full riding-by-riding numbers are on the Apna News live results hub and update as Elections BC reports. This story will be updated after the final count.
Source: Elections BC news release / official results, October 24, 2026
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