No late nights for new Liberal leader
WORK ETHIC: ‘I’m an early to bed, early to rise guy,’ says Wilkinson of his approach to getting things done
One of the first guys to leave Andrew Wilkinson’s victory party Saturday was Wilkinson himself.
The bash was held at the Century Plaza Hotel and the place was packed. I crashed it after deadline and was talking to one of Wilkinson’s staffers when I noticed Wilkinson shaking hands with people at the door.
“So, he’s arriving fashionably late?” I asked. “Arriving? He’s leaving,” the staffer replied.
Wilkinson confirmed Sunday that he didn’t exactly whoop it up after his dramatic, come-from-behind, fifth-ballot win over Dianne Watts.
“Oh, no, no,” he told me. “I got there as early as I could to pay my respects to all the volunteers and supporters, and then it was off to bed, so I could get up early and get to work.”
That’s exactly what he did Sunday, doing a round of media interviews and then making phone calls to Liberal caucus members and key party officials around B.C.
Whatever your first impressions of Wilkinson may be, don’t go thinking he’s a slacker. “I’m an early to bed, early to rise guy,” he said.
He will need the work ethic, with a byelection already underway in Kelowna (the seat vacated by former Liberal leader Christy Clark) and a critical legislative session that starts Feb. 13. The Kelowna seat is a safe one for the Liberals.
“If we are fortunate enough to win the byelection, we would have 42 seats, the most of any party in the House,” Wilkinson said. “That means it’s intrinsically unstable to have an NDP minority government, and we’ll see where that goes.”
Translation: He’s already thinking ahead to an election, and preparing for one that could happen sooner than anticipated if the 44-seat, NDPGreen governing alliance suddenly unravels. Wilkinson admitted the party needs to expand its appeal.
“We need more engagement with women voters and young voters,” he said.
But how does the party reach out to young, ethically diverse voters by making a 60-year-old white guy their leader? This will be Wilkinson’s biggest challenge: Overcoming an image as a pampered, downtown, rich lawyer/doctor/Rhodes Scholar while relating to working people.
Ex-premier Gordon Campbell had a similar image problem. Wilkinson was his right-hand man for years, as Liberal party president and then a deputy minister in Campbell’s office. I ask him about the comparison.
“Gordon Campbell was a hard-working person who won three elections and brought British Columbia’s economy into the 21st century. I’m quite glad to hear that comparison,” he said.
He said he occasionally talks to Campbell. “The long-standing advice from Gordon Campbell has been to ... make sure you’re able to deliver things for real people,” he said. “That involves being fiscally responsible and making sure we support an enterprise-driven economy.”
Defending a free-market economics will be like preaching to the choir for B.C. business. The bigger challenge will be reaching beyond that base, especially for a guy who might seem just a little too smug, urbane and wealthy for some tastes.
“I’ve lived and worked all over British Columbia and have a very good feel for what it’s like in rural communities,” he said. “I’m confident we can ... expand our base.”
Wilkinson is super-smart and works hard. He just might pull it off.