The list of contenders for the B.C. Liberal leadership that would be considered outsiders narrowed Monday as maverick B.C. Liberal MLA Blair Lekstrom declared he would not be seeking the nomination.
Lekstrom, who quit the party and cabinet over the handling of the harmonized sales tax earlier this year, cited personal reasons. He said he was not interested in giving up the time with his family that would be needed in the premier's chair. "Now, I get to do the job I love, and have a high quality of life," Lekstrom said from his constituency office in Dawson Creek.
Surrey mayor Diane Watts and former B.C. Liberal finance-minister Carole Taylor, both considered promising candidates, have also both said they would not seek the leadership after Premier Gordon Campbell announced suddenly three weeks ago he was stepping down.
Former-education minister Christy Clark is one of the only remaining outsiders considered a possible candidate.
A leadership convention is scheduled for Feb. 26.
As the field of outsiders to the job, particularly those not tainted with supporting the HST diminishes, Lekstrom said it is important that leadership contenders, particularly those from inside the current government, differentiate themselves from the previous leadership.
He noted that will be difficult.
They will have to distance themselves from Campbell, who Lekstrom acknowledged did a lot of good work.
However, Lekstrom added that every politician has an expiry date, and he believed Campbell's was six months ago. The Peace River South MLA said he'll be looking to see whether candidates will move up the date of a referendum on the HST, which was forced when a citizen initiative petition led by former-premier Bill Vander Zalm was successful.
The vote on the HST is set for Sept. 2011, but anti-HST organizers, who have turned their attention to a major recall effort of Liberals MLAs, have been calling for the HST to be rescinded or the date of the referendum moved up.
Lekstrom said he also believes another key issue is an ill-advised natural resources ministry reorganization brought in recently under Campbell's leadership.
Regional Economic and Skills Development Minister Moira Stilwell, a rookie MLA and cabinet minister, became the first Liberal leadership contender Monday. Stilwell, a Metro Vancouver-based radiologist and nuclear medicine physician, was elected in 2009.
It has been a rocky few weeks for the B.C. Liberals, who were already facing enormous fallout over the introduction of the HST. Most recently, energy minister Bill Bennett was kicked out of cabinet for calling on Campbell to step down immediately. When he lashed out at Campbell following his dismissal, he was kicked out of caucus.
A recent Mustel poll has offered some hope to the Liberals, as it showed that with a new leader they were competitive with the New Democrats, who had been pulling twice the support of the Liberals in polls with Campbell at the helm.
On the list of inside contenders for the leadership are Education Minister George Abbott, Health Minister Kevin Falcon, Solicitor General Rich Coleman and Attorney General Mike de Jong.
None have declared, however.
