B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins confirmed today he will run for the MLA seat in Langley this May provincial election.

The former Conservative MP will challenge B.C. Liberal Mary Polak, a two-term MLA and the current provincial minister of transportation and infrastructure. Polak swept the riding in 2009 with more than 56 per cent of the vote, though no Conservative candidate ran that year.

Andrew Mercier, a Langley resident and former campaign manager for federal NDP candidate Piotr Majkowski, is the B.C. NDP's acclaimed candidate in the riding.

A resident of south Langley, Cummins said in a statement today that he'll campaign on issues such as "addressing B.C.'s declining wages by promoting the creation of high-paying jobs; investing in skills and job training; encouraging natural-resource development in British Columbia's northern and rural regions; ending the province's on-going series of budgetary deficits; and improving fiscal scrutiny and accountability."

Robyn Smith reports for The Tyee.