Top Liberal official leaves her post

VICTORIA The top official in B.C.’s Liberal party has resigned.

Katy Merrifield, who had been executive director of the party since February, stepped down this week, citing personal reasons.

“After serving the previous government, my leadership campaign, and the party in a series of challenging leadership roles over the past decade, Katy has made a personal decision to take a muchneeded break and move on from her role as executive director,” Leader Andrew Wilkinson said in a statement Wednesday.

“While I’m sorry to lose her contributions, I know Katy will continue to use her tremendous talents to make British Columbia a better place. Katy is a valued member of the B.C. Liberal family and we wish her all the best.”

Merrifield was Wilkinson’s campaign director in the February Liberal leadership race. She was credited with steering his campaign to a come-from-behind victory by picking up key caucus endorsements, striking a deal with rival candidate MLA Mike de Jong and engineering a platform that was unapologetic in embracing the party’s values.

Before Wilkinson, Merrifield served as director of communications in Christy Clark’s office.

The B.C. NDP has also made some staffing changes.

Treasurer Amber Hockin has resigned to take a job as Premier John Horgan’s deputy chief of staff. She will report to chief of staff Geoff Meggs, a former Vancouver city councillor. Hockin was most recently operations director at the MoveUp union and in 2014 ran to become president of the B.C. Federation of Labour before losing to Irene Lanzinger.