Rebecca Bligh is a Canadian politician, who was elected to

Vancouver City Council Vancouver City Council is the governing body of Vancouver, British Columbia. The council consists of a mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city ...

in the

2018 Vancouver municipal election The 2018 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 20, 2018, the same day as 2018 British Columbia municipal elections, other municipalities and regional districts in British Columbia selected their new municipal governments. Voters elect ...

and reelected in 2022.

Political career

First elected as a member of the

Non-Partisan Association The Non-Partisan Association (NPA) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by the city's business leaders in 1937 to challenge the democratic socialist British Columbia CCF, Co-operative Commonwe ...

, she left the party in 2019 claiming its ideology was driving towards the "

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

" following the election of its new executive. Her concerns were echoed by 2018 NPA mayoral candidate

Ken Sim Kenneth Sim (; born October 18, 1970) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 41st mayor of Vancouver since 2022. Biography Born in Vancouver to Hong Kong immigrants Francis Sim (d. 1999) and Maria Theresa Kim (1932– ...

, while Bligh's fellow NPA councillors Melissa De Genova, Lisa Dominato, Colleen Hardwick and Sarah Kirby-Yung did not leave the party, but took steps to distance themselves from its board. By 2022, all except De Genova had quit the NPA, with Bligh, Dominato and Kirby-Yung re-affiliating with

ABC Vancouver ABC Vancouver, formerly A Better City, is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is led by incumbent mayor Ken Sim. History Formation Three of five city councillors elected under the NPA banner in the 2018 V ...

, and Hardwick joining

TEAM for a Livable Vancouver TEAM for a Livable Vancouver (TEAM) is a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was established by Vancouver city councillor Colleen Hardwick, first 2018 Vancouver municipal election, elected in 2018 with the Non-Par ...

. As a candidate of ABC Vancouver, Bligh was re-elected to a second term in the

2022 Vancouver municipal election The 2022 Vancouver municipal election was held on October 15, 2022, the same day as the 2022 British Columbia municipal elections, municipal elections held throughout British Columbia. Voters elected the mayor of Vancouver by First-past-the-post ...

. She was removed from the ABC Vancouver caucus on February 14, 2025. Bligh currently serves as the president of the

Federation of Canadian Municipalities The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM, ''Fédération canadienne des municipalités'') is an advocacy group representing over 2000 Canadian municipalities. It is an organization with no formal power but significant ability to influence ...

, which represents the interests of Canadian cities vis-a-vis the federal government.

Personal life

Bligh is married to a same-sex partner and has two adult children. Prior to being elected to office, she founded a consulting and facilitation practice for executives and organizations.

Electoral record

References

External links

* 21st-century Canadian municipal councillors 21st-century Canadian women politicians Vancouver city councillors ABC Vancouver councillors Women municipal councillors in British Columbia LGBTQ municipal councillors in Canada Canadian queer women Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people {{BritishColumbia-politician-stub