Green Co-Leader Elizabeth May re-elected in Saanich-Gulf Islands

Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May has been re-elected in her Vancouver Island seat of Saanich-Gulf Islands.

May fended off challenges from Liberal David Beckham and Conservative Cathie Ounsted, while the NDP’s Colin Plant placed a distant fourth.

May credited her win to her campaign’s ground game, but said it was an uphill battle amid intense media speculation she would lose the race.

“It developed a momentum based on a rumour, and it became a very hard thing to fight,” he said.

“And the reason we were successful here … Greens win, and we’ve always seen this from the devotion and the commitment of volunteers.”

May won the riding handily in 2021 with 37.6 per cent of the vote, compared to 22.6 per cent for the Conservative runner-up.

1:39 Canada Election 2025: Green Party’s fight for survival

May was first elected in the riding in 2011, a historic breakthrough that saw the Greens claim their first-ever federal seat.

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She now won it five times and holds the record as the longest-serving Green MP in Canadian history.

But public opinion polls have shown the Greens struggling federally amid a Liberal surge that has come primarily at the expense of other progressive parties.

The Greens have had a challenging several years after electing a record three MPs with a party-high of 6.55 per cent of the popular vote in 2019.

2:05 Last minute decision to remove Green Party from leaders’ debate

The party saw its support drop significantly in 2021, when they were reduced to two seats with just 2.33 per cent of the vote.

Those challenges only continued in 2025 with the party pulling in just one per cent of the popular vote.

The party’s other co-leader, Jonathan Pedneault, was defeated in the Montreal riding of Outremont, while the party’s only other incumbent, Mike Morrice, was trailing in his attempt to hold the riding of Kitchener Centre.