SURREY – Conservative MP and former Surrey mayor Dianne Watts will make her bid to replace Christy Clark as BC Liberal leader official on Sunday in Surrey, where she has scheduled a 1pm event at the Sheraton Guildford hotel to make the announcement that she is stepping down as MP and seeking the BC Liberal leadership.
Watts is definitely a strong contender for the role as seen by a recent poll that said she is the only candidate who has a shot of defeating NDP.
An Insights West poll released in August found 39 per cent of the province holds a favourable view of Watts, compared to 30 per cent for Sam Sullivan, 28 per cent for Mike de Jong and 24 per cent for Jas Johal.
While Watts gets set to announce her candidacy, knives have already come against her from party hacks like former finance minister Mike de Jong, who questioned where was Watts during the spring election campaign as the Liberals were neck-and-neck with the NDP.
“We were in a very tight electoral contest,” de Jong said. “She’ll need to explain why, during a tight race, she wasn’t around.
“They may well ask themselves who has been there for us in the past? Who has lent their support to us when we needed it most?” said de Jong, who may also vie for leader.
Earlier this week, interim Liberal leader Rich Coleman revealed there are seven high-profile potential candidates mulling a run, including Todd Stone, Mike Bernier and Andrew Wilkinson. And DESIBUZZCanada broke the story that former Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal is also testing the waters for a provincial leadership bid
The BC Liberals have also already scheduled the party’s first leadership debate for Oct. 15.
Watts’ run will trigger a byelection in her federal riding of South Surrey-White Rock, which she won for the Conservatives in the 2015 election.
She won the riding with 24,934 votes.
Earlier this summer, Watts was appointed to new federal Conservative Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer’s shadow cabinet as critic for Employment Workforce Development and Labour.
Entrants will have to pay a preliminary $10,000 fee to enter the leadership race, and another $50,000 if they want to stay in the race up until February, when party members choose a new leader.
