He鈥檚 the new but familiar face of the new B.C. Conservatives.

As has been speculated for some time, former Delta-Richmond East MP John Cummins announced his candidacy for the leadership of the provincial Conservatives.

But since no other candidates came forward by the Tuesday night deadline, Cummins is expected to be officially named the leader of the B.C. Conservatives at a party convention this May.

In Tuesday morning鈥檚 press conference at the Hyatt Regency Vancouver, Cummins emphasized during his speech that he wants B.C. voters to have a viable alternative to the Liberals and NDP, which he described as 鈥渙ld line parties鈥� inextricably linked to special interest groups in the form of corporations and unions.

鈥淭he choice between the Liberals and NDP is like a choice between airline food and hospital food,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can do better, British Columbians deserve a choice they are actually excited to vote for, not two parties they have to hold their noses to support.鈥�

Cummins hasn鈥檛 yet announced where he鈥檒l be running, but he鈥檚 reportedly already moved to Langley.

If elected, Cummins said he鈥檇 push to ban political donations from corporations and unions.

Asked how he鈥檒l appeal to younger voters, Cummins said: 鈥淚 think that if you look at the team that鈥檚 surrounding me, very few on that team are over 40 years of age. So we do have a young team here, a team that can reach out to these younger voters and I think that the ideas we鈥檙e promoting and expressing are ideas that do appeal to the young people. We鈥檙e talking about MLAs who are not going to be trained seals when they hit the provincial legislature, we鈥檙e talking about attracting MLAs who will speak their mind, represent their people and yet be part of this Conservative team.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the kind of government that we鈥檙e looking at promoting. I think that鈥檚 what young people want.鈥�

In his 18 years in Ottawa, Cummins earned a reputation as being a maverick politician who freely speaks his mind, unafraid to ruffle the feathers of party brass. That reputation kept him off any cabinet postings.

鈥淚 think that if you look at my political record over the last 18 years, you鈥檒l find that I鈥檓 not really a trained seal.鈥�

Cummins was first elected as a Reform MP in 1993 and has served in Parliament since. He鈥檚 been a Conservative MP since 2003, but isn鈥檛 seeking re-election in the federal election.

The B.C. Conservatives haven鈥檛 elected an MLA since 1978.