The BC NDP are expected to hold on to Surrey-Panorama.
With 7,202 mail in ballots left to be counted, NDP incumbent Jinny Sims is leading by 1,312 votes.
Before the mail-in and absentee ballots were counted Sims has received 7,967 votes compared to 6,655 votes for Gulzar Cheema.
Surrey-Panorama is one of the rare ridings that has seen three different MLAs over the last three elections.
It was held by BC Liberal Stephanie Cadieux in 2009 before she switched to run in Surrey-Cloverdale. Marvin Hunt took over in 2013, but then moved to Surrey-Cloverdale as well in 2017, after Cadieux moved to Surrey South.
With all the pieces moving around, the BC NDP found a gap and picked up the seat in 2017 with Sims, former president of the BC Teachers Federation. She beat Liberal candidate and local lawyer Puneet Sandhar.
Sims served in BC NDP leader John Horgan’s cabinet as minister of citizens services until she resigned in October 2019 because of an RCMP investigation. She has since been cleared of all wrongdoing.
The riding was the second closest race of all the Surrey seats in the last election, with Sims winning by a little less than 2,200 votes.
This time marks the return of Dr. Gulzar Cheema, one of the few politicians to have served in two provincial legislatures. Cheema was an MLA in Manitoba from 1988 to 1993 and in British Columbia from 2001 to 2004.
Nominated Candidates
- BC NDP: Jinny Sims
- BC Liberals: Gulzar Cheema
- B.C. Vision: Sophie Shrestha
Swing Riding Meter
Surrey-Panorama has been redrawn a few times over the last few decades. In its current form, it has only been contested three times, with two wins to the BC Liberals and the latest win to the NDP.
The riding was the 16th closest race in the province in 2017 based on winning percentage. Sims won by 8.99 per cent. Surrey-Panorama was the seventh closest race won by the BC NDP that year.
Election Results 2017
- BC NDP: Jinny Sims, 12,227 votes (50.85%)
- BC Liberals: Puneet Sandhar, 10,064 (41.86%)
- BC Greens: Laurel Greer, 1,620 votes (6.74%)
- Refederation: Liz Galenzoski, 132 votes (0.55%)
This profile will continually be updated to reflect latest information, interviews and events in the campaign.
Find full B.C. 2020 election coverage here.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots were requested across B.C. this election. As mail-in ballots cannot be counted until after election night, these results are not final.
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