Frances Bula header image 2
← →

Watts is out of the running for Liberal leadership

November 14th, 2010 · 12 Comments

This just in tonight. No surprise, from all the chatter I was hearing all week.

It would have been gruelling for Dianne Watts to try to turn the party’s tattered brand around within two years. As well, it would have meant exposing herself to the kind of merciless flaying that seems to be the norm these days in politics, the kind of flaying that she has been exempt from so far.

Categories: Uncategorized

  • Mo

    Yes. I never thought she was ready-for-prime time. Perhaps in a few years. Plus no one new be it Taylor or Watts want to inherit the garbage bag that is left to them by Campbell. The present gang will have to eat their own garbage.

  • Jeff

    I truly believe the right candidate could handily beat a Carol James led NDP. I didn’t think Watts was it, and I don’t necessarily think 4 more years of BC Liberals is a good thing,

    I just don’t see the the NDP doing anything interesting either. This province could do with a new option, hard to see it happening before 2013.

  • jesse

    Taylor stated she wasn’t interested in politics any more because it was hard to elicit change in the current environment and structure (to paraphrase).

    My bet’s now on Gregor Robertson. I just don’t know which provincial party he’ll be with. 🙂

  • George

    Gregor had a chance at provincial politics, hated it quit halfway through costing tax payers big time for a bi election…I think after the next couple of weeks Gregor won’t have much of a chance after the other shoe drops over Olympic Village.

  • Lorna

    If Watts run for mayor of Vancouver , I will vote for her 🙂

  • Tiktaalik

    On the CBC radio this morning she said something to the effect that there were lots of people in cabinet who had been there since the beginning and that they should run on their history.

    The impression I got was that she was sort of saying that the BC Liberals have made their bed and now they themselves are going to have to deal with the fallout of their policies. They can’t rely on some outside saviour.

  • MB

    Taylor would be a breath of fresh air. She remained studiously independent while serving on Vancouver council in the 80s.

    BC politics sometimes makes me feel like a member of Los 33. We’re stuck with the same old characters and factions and they’re making the air go stale with their chatter. But we keep voting in those who make the space smaller with their ineffectiveness and claustrophobic ideology.

    What we probably need is someone to rescue us from ourselves.

  • The Fourth Horseman

    Excellent comment, MB!

  • Morry

    @Lorna

    “If Watts run for mayor of Vancouver , I will vote for her ”
    bears repeating .As dose this one :”What we probably need is someone to rescue us from ourselves.” @MB

  • Delia

    Taylor is certainly talented but she seems happy in the corporate world and becoming SFU’s new chancellor. In a sense, she’s staying active in high society without the hectic nature of political life.

  • Tessa

    I think it’s a good decision. It’s true that the current crop of Liberals should have to deal with their own mess and not try to reinvent their whole party by simply putting in a new figurehead. It’s pointless, and it doesn’t represent any real change.

    But not just that. Watts really hasn’t finished all her goals in Surrey, goals which she has articulated, and to jump ship now would be rather disappointing. I think there’s a lot more she can still see to completion there.

    I do have to wonder, however, if the political environment at the provincial level does lead to good candidates turning down office. Or maybe Watts simply isn’t that enthusiastic about the party. Who knows what her full motivations were, but I was happy to see the decision.

  • Delia

    Good point. Maybe Watts doesn’t like the BC Liberal Party. It is a rather pathetic organization. Why its members would let Campbell completely dominate them for 17 years is beyond belief. It shows what a shallow organisation it really is. It’s a disgraceful party when you think about how its been run.