Christy Clark wins B.C. Liberal leadership vote on third ballot, will be next premier

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      Christy Clark will be British Columbia's next premier.

      Clark won the B.C. Liberal Party's leadership vote, which went to three ballots this evening (February 26).

      The former education minister garnered 4,420 votes on the third ballot, while former health minister Kevin Falcon received 4,080 votes.

      Clark captured the leadership despite only having the support of one B.C. Liberal MLA, Burnaby-Lougheed's Harry Bloy.

      The B.C. Liberals selected their new leader by phone and Internet using a preferential ballot and a voting system weighted for each riding.

      Six candidates—George Abbott, Clark, Mike de Jong, Falcon, Ed Mayne, and Moira Stilwell—entered the race to succeed outgoing premier Gordon Campbell.

      But Mayne and Stilwell dropped out of the contest earlier this month, leaving the other four contenders on the ballot.

      De Jong was eliminated after the first ballot, and Abbott came off after the second round.

      Clark will be B.C.'s 35th premier and the second woman to hold the position.

      You can follow Stephen Hui on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenhui.

      Comments

      10 Comments

      Earl Camembert

      Feb 26, 2011 at 6:46pm

      God help us all!

      Argulion

      Feb 26, 2011 at 6:59pm

      IMO, I haven't seen enough change, thus the Liberals will never get my vote. In stead of a Gordon clone it's may as well be Gordon's sister.

      interior

      Feb 26, 2011 at 7:02pm

      She will make a great premier.

      Steve Y

      Feb 26, 2011 at 7:26pm

      I love the false bravado of the NDP supporters.... Christy is their worst nightmare. They can bleat about the environment all they want but at the end of the day, people are worried about their jobs, not losing 10 of our 20 trillion trees.

      Chris Telesca

      Feb 27, 2011 at 4:27am

      I still can't find out what the total number of 1st round votes were cast - merely telling me she got 4420 votes to the other guy's 4080 votes tells me nothing. Did she get a true majority, and how did the fact that telephone and internet votes were cast in this race factor into the final numbers? Was there falloff between the 1st and 2nd and 2nd and 3rd rounds?

      Sean A

      Feb 27, 2011 at 6:09am

      I've always voted liberal, now I'll stop. She was the same education minister that allowed some crooked private school chains to be accredited and to get away with robbing people (myself) of their dreams. As far as I'm concerned, she owes the tax payers about $15000, and that was just my tuition. Ms. Clark, shame on you for bending over backwards to corporate interests.

      Premier committed to fighting poverty

      Feb 27, 2011 at 12:35pm

      The Liberals haven't created a climate for job creation and nor has the HST. It is going to get really interesting with the NDP and the Liberals sharing the same platforms. Clark's commitment to the reduction of poverty and helping families out has long been the NDP platform.
      It isn't going to be easy for Clark to turn her cabinet around to solving poverty. The same poverty the Liberals Ministers helped create. Clark picks up the disgruntled NDP voter and it is a now a party going everywhich way.
      So I wonder what the new premier's plans are for solving poverty in a province that has taken great measures to beat its low income into the ground? Tax breaks for big corporations?

      Alex Carey

      Feb 27, 2011 at 5:01pm

      I am hoping that the electorate can see through Christy's phony corporate backed PR campaign for what she truly is.

      A proxy.

      Taxpayers R Us

      Feb 27, 2011 at 7:52pm

      The NDP was a hole in the ground for so long, it's great a woman won to shut up the "anti-James=anti-woman" types and help them realize that their party is a joke.

      Long time Liberal

      May 19, 2012 at 7:39am

      Only a year in but I think the BC Liberals need a leadership review in next 6 months. Her comments about Angus Reid are ridiculous and slanderous. 25 points back? Christy, show some leadership. This is not working.