Emily Lowan, a 25-year-old climate activist, is the new leader of the British Columbia Green Party. 

Lowan won with 3,189 first-place votes, ahead of second-place Jonathan Kerr with 1,908 votes, while Adam Bremner-Akins finished third with 128 votes. A total of 8,641 eligible members cast their votes in the ranked-ballot election for a turnout of 61 per cent. 

"This campaign was electrifying," Lowan told a room of supporters in Victoria, where the results were announced Wednesday. "It was a lightning rod of hope. We brought in thousands of new members to this party, many of whom were completely disillusioned with politics." 

Lowan doesn't have a seat in the legislature, but said she plans to run in the next “viable” byelection or in a general election. 

There are two Greens currently sitting in the legislature, Rob Botterell and Jeremy Valeriote, who has been acting as the interim leader of the party. 

The party signed a co-operation and responsible government accord with New Democrats after David Eby won a narrow victory over the B.C. Conservatives in last year's election. 

Lowan said that the Greens should consider an "expedited" re-negotiating of pact, which is reviewable annually. 

Her decisive mandate is a “clear message” that the party needs to do something differently, Lowan said. 

She said her election is also a "wake-up call" for the governing New Democrats, who can no longer take "progressive" voters for granted.

Lowan promised to build a "formidable political movement" to take on B.C.'s largest corporations, billionaires and big oil, "who take far more than they give."

The Greens will become a “force of nature,” she said, while promising to be a “bold and critical” opposition party.

Former leader Sonia Furstenau lost her bid for re-election in last year's election and stepped down from the post in January. 

– Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press