Vancouver Coun. Rebecca Bligh has officially announced her mission to become the city’s next mayor, launching a new party and aiming to defeat her former ally and running mate, incumbent Mayor Ken Sim.

Bligh will run in next October’s municipal election as the leader of a new organization called Vote Vancouver, the second-term councillor announced Monday morning at city hall.

The news confirms what many observers have suspected might happen ever after Bligh’s public split earlier this year with the ABC Vancouver party that holds a majority on city council.

In the 2022 election, Bligh ran for council with ABC and was elected along with the rest of the party’s slate of council, school board and park board candidates in a historic sweep.

But in February, Bligh was ousted from the ABC ca

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