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BC Conservative leader John Cummins to step down

John Cummins will step down as leader of the BC Conservative party.

CKNW reports that sources within the party say Cummins agreed to resign as leader and will make the news official this evening.

Cummins took the helm in 2011 and under his leadership the Conservatives enjoyed a brief surge in popularity.

The party could not maintain that support and failed to elect a single MLA in the 2013 provincial election. Cummins lost his own race in Langley to BC Liberal Mary Polak.

Cummins blamed his party's poor showing on his opponents' "aggressive, well-financed" campaigns and opined that many Liberal supporters were merely running from the NDP.

In a recent interview with the Georgia Straight, Cummins said that the BC Conservatives were "here for the long run" although he wouldn't comment about his own future plans.

The Tyee attempted to reach Cummins but he did not respond by publication time.

Dan Brooks, party director at large, told the Canadian Press that the party's leadership will hammer out the details during a conference call tonight, but that Cummins indicated the meeting would be his last.

Colleen Kimmett is a senior editor at The Tyee.

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