Supporters of new BC Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay spent the weekend doing victory laps over a new poll showing the party ahead of the governing NDP, and attributing it to the surge of support for the new leader.

It’s not exactly true. But that also shouldn’t dampen what are otherwise good numbers for the opposition party and the new boss.

“Since I became leader of the BC Conservative Party, our focus has been on uniting our movement and leading with clear purpose,” Findlay wrote on social media over the weekend, highlighting the 45-41 lead for the Conservatives in the Leger survey.

“The latest Leger poll shows that this approach is already resonating across the province. Momentum is building, and British Columbians are responding to a vision rooted in principle, competence, and results.”

Indeed, the Conservatives enjoy a four-point lead amongst 1,002 people surveyed in the first two days of June, directly after the May 30 leadership results.

But it was not due to a KFL bump, KLF-mania or even KLF recognition.

Around 71 per cent of people surveyed were unfamiliar with Findlay, despite her long career in federal politics. Of those, 22 per cent had an unfavourable view, compared to 17 per cent favourable. Most—61 per cent—had neutral or unsure views.

That’s not necessarily bad for Findlay.

The Leger poll shows she has a blank slate from which to introduce people to her leadership. She gets the rare chance in politics to make a first impression. And that an opportunity for her and her party to shape the narrative around what she wants to stand for as leader.

Countering that, of course, is the BC NDP.

Premier David Eby has spent early days attacking Findlay for being a “MAGA regional manager” and attempting to insert a Donald Trump comparison into the public’s early perception.

He’s sought to portray Findlay early as an Alberta separatist sympathizer, highlighting comments she’d maintain economic ties with the province if it left Canada, and mocking her decision to make one of her first acts in office as a B.C. leader be a trip to Calgary for an Alberta United Conservative Party fundraiser.

It will take a while to see if any of the mud the NDP slung actually landed.

In the meantime, there should be no alarm within Conservative circles that Findlay has low voter recognition after just one week into the job. That’s simply the nature of the beast when it comes to being opposition leader. And it will be the case for some time.

It’s much harder to punch through public consciousness for the opposition than it is for the premier, who has access to $90 billion in spending to maximize voter exposure.

Remember when John Horgan suffered the humbling experience of mostly indifferent shrugs from voters in the lead up to the 2017 election campaign. And that was after a decade in the opposition benches and almost three years as BC NDP leader.

Horgan went on to take power from the BC Liberals, and ended his career as one of the most popular premiers in B.C. history.

Findlay starts that same journey in an even more enviable position than Horgan. The Conservatives aren’t broke like the NDP were before the 2017 campaign. And interim leader Trevor Halford left her a relatively stable caucus and well-functioning party apparatus.

All of which is to say that Findlay’s got a wide-open lane to shoot her shot. Whatever it is. And however it goes, good or bad, will be entirely on her.

Rob Shaw has spent more than 18 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK News and writing for BIV. He hosts the weekly show Political Capital and has a NEW daily podcast, Political Capital Daily.

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