Who's running in Surrey North?
- Mandeep Dhaliwal, Conservative Party
- Kiran Hundal, Freedom Party of BC
- Hobby Nijjar, independent
- Sim Sandhu, BC Green Party
- Rachna Singh, BC NDP (incumbent)
What you should know about Surrey North
A couple of new electoral districts in Surrey will be seen on the ballot come the fall provincial election, with one created as an amalgamation of two previous ridings.
Surrey North was created last year and will be first contested in the 2024 B.C. election in October. Comprised of portions of the previous Surrey-Green Timbers and Surrey-Whalley, the new ridings of Surrey North and Surrey City Centre now take the place of the former ones.
Incumbent Surrey-Green Timbers New Democratic Party MLA Rachna Singh is now running in the Surrey North electoral district against Conservative Party candidate Mandeep Dhaliwal and three other challengers: Freedom Party of BC candidate Kiran Hundal, independent Hobby Nijjar, and Sim Sandhu of the BC Green Party.
On the ballot against a two-term MLA and cabinet minister, the challengers may have an uphill battle in their first runs in politics in this riding.
In the history of the previous ridings that have portions in Surrey North, a Conservative candidate has never been elected.
For Surrey-Green Timbers, MLAs have largely been NDP, with one from the former Liberal Party: current Surrey mayor Brenda Locke, from 2001 to 2005. However, from 2005 onwards, the NDP has held the seat.
Surrey-Whalley has also been largely NDP, with the exception of one previous candidate, Elayne Brenzinger, who served from 2001 to 2005 and was part of the Liberal Party. She then became an Independent in 2004 before joining the former Democratic Reform Party in January 2005. Incumbent NDP MLA Bruce Ralston was elected in 2005 and has held the seat since.
After nearly 20 years of the same party holding seats in those ridings, and seven years of that party holding office, a change is possible for the new Surrey North riding.
Where is Surrey North?
The boundaries of Surrey North are largely from the east of 132 Street and south of 88 Avenue, reaching wide east to 140 Street, including Bear Creek Park. The district includes north Newton and west Whalley, with the Fraser River forming its northern and western boundaries.
