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ELECTION 2017: In Surrey-Guildford, ‘a new sheriff in town’ as retired Surrey RCMP inspector Begg wins for NDP (VIDEO)

Surrey-Guildford was a new kid on the block heading into the general election
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NDP candidate Garry Begg has won in the riding of Surrey-Guildford. (file photo)

In a battle of retired police officers, NDP candidate Garry Begg took Surrey-Guildford.

“There’s a new sheriff in town,” the former Surrey RCMP inspector said on Tuesday night.

“I believe that public service is the highest calling.”

Begg served 37 years with the RCMP, the last eight in Surrey.

With all 69 polls reporting, Begg earned 49.6 per cent of votes in the riding. Liberal incumbent Amrik Virk, also a former Surrey RCMP inspector, scored 38 per cent of votes.

Surrey-Guildford was a new kid on the block heading into the general election.

This new riding takes in a large part of what used to be Surrey-Tynehead, a provincial riding that was held by the B.C. Liberals since Dave Hayer was first elected in 2001, and then re-elected in 2005 and 2009.

After Hayer retired, his successor was Amrik Virk, a former Surrey RCMP inspector who, after his election to Surrey-Tynehead, in 2013, went on to most recently serve as minister of technology, innovation and citizen’s services and before that, minister of advanced education.

In the last election, in Surrey-Tynehead, Virk took 48.3 per cent of the popular vote, defeating runner-up NDP candidate Avtar Bains by 1,500 votes.

This time around, Virk did battle with NDP candidate Garry Begg, a fellow retired Surrey RCMP inspector who served 37 years with the force, the last eight of which were in Surrey. Begg ran unsuccessfully for the NDP last federal election in Fleetwood-Port Kells .

Their competitors were the Green Party’s Jodi Murphy who, according to her website, has for the past decade worked at a local company providing specialized technical services for the pulp and paper industry, and Christian Heritage Party candidate Keith Pielak, who has served as president of the BC CHP since 2014.

The population of Surrey-Guildford is 58,037 and the average age of residents is 38.2 years, according to the most recent available figures.