Upon announcing his resignation, Gordon Campbell did not state whether he would stay on as Premier and party leader until a new leader was chosen, or whether an interim leader would fill this role. However, Campbell soon made it clear that he would be staying on until a new leader was elected. "A smooth and orderly transition doesn't mean you have two or three leaders in a period of two or three months. So I'll be premier until the party selects a new leader. The new leader will then be sworn in as premier, and there will be a smooth and orderly transition."
Voting rules
On November 13, 2010, the Provincial Executive of the BC Liberal Party voted unanimously to call an extraordinary convention to approve new rules for the Party's leadership vote process. The "preferential ballot system" recommended by the Provincial Executive gives each party member a vote and then adjusts the results according to a regionally-weighted point system to ensure that each riding association counts equally. The first candidate to receive more than 50% of the regionally-weighted points in province-wide round of voting would emerge as the next Leader of the BC Liberal Party. These recommendations were approved by two-thirds of delegates at an extraordinary convention held on February 12, 2011.
Declared candidates
The following candidates declared their intention to run for the leadership:
George Abbott">George Abbott (politician)">George Abbott
Early polling has shown that Christy Clark is the candidate with the highest level of support among all voters, with a net positive score of eleven versus minus one for George Abbott, minus twelve for Moira Stilwell, minus eighteen for Mike de Jong, and minus twenty-three for Kevin Falcon. This is in line with earlier polls which found Clark with a twenty-five-point lead among all voters as preferred BC Liberal leader and a fourteen-point lead among definite Liberal voters. An update of the poll on February 22, after Stilwell and Mayne had withdrawn, showed Clark still leading with a 67% favourability rating, with Falcon in second at 51%, and Abbott and de Jong tied at third with 46%. Early in the race, an analysis of social media in the Vancouver Sun, published on December 11, 2010, found that Kevin Falcon had generated the most social media traffic amongst the candidates who had already declared their intention to run.
Debates
Initially, the Party did not intend to hold public debates between the candidates. However, debate forums were eventually announced on January 27, 2011, via the BC Liberals' website:
February 2: BC Liberal Party Leadership Debate, Kamloops
February 3: BC Liberal Party Leadership Debate, Prince George
February 12: BC Liberal Party Leadership Debate, Vancouver
The BC Liberal Party designed and controlled the debate format, intending for them to be non-controversial. Only registered party members were able to attend, all debate questions were provided to the candidates in advance, and there were few exchanges between the candidates. The debates were criticized as being bland and stifling. Following the withdrawal of Stilwell and Mayne, an additional debate was held between the remaining candidates and aired on Shaw TV Vancouver on February 20.
Timeline
November 3, 2010: BC Premier Gordon Campbell announces his resignation and calls on his party to hold a leadership convention
November 4, 2010: Campbell confirms that he will remain as leader until the BC Liberal Party elects his successor
November 13, 2010: The BC Liberal Party Provincial Executive recommends a new voting system to be adopted for the upcoming leadership vote
November 15, 2010: the BC Liberal Party Provincial Executive sets February 26, 2011 as the date for the Party's leadership vote
November 22, 2010: Moira Stilwell becomes the first candidate for the BC Liberal Party leadership
November 25, 2010: George Abbott announces his candidacy
November 30, 2010: Kevin Falcon announces his candidacy
