Andrew Wilkinson wins B.C. Liberal leadership after party’s 2017 defeat
VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s Liberals turned to a former cabinet minister with a blue blood intellectual pedigree and deep rural roots to lead them Saturday night, as Andrew Wilkinson appealed to his caucus colleagues to help him expand and broaden the party’s membership.
Wilkinson, 60, a doctor, lawyer and Rhodes Scholar, said leadership candidates who pushed the party to widen its support should be listened to after losing its 16-year grip on power last year.
“Take those Liberal values, build out this party,” he said after defeating former Conservative MP Dianne Watts in a fifth round of vote counting.
He stood on the stage after his victory with his wife Barbara Grantham, members of the Liberal caucus and Watts, who resigned as a federal Conservative MP to seek the party leadership in a field of six candidates.