Kevin Falcon - Leadership Campaign

Leadership Campaign

On November 3, 2010, Premier Gordon Campbell announced that he would step down as premier of British Columbia once his successor was chosen. On November 30, 2010, Falcon launched his campaign to be the leader of the BC Liberal Party, and subsequently the Premier of British Columbia.

Falcon is regarded as one of the more conservative members of caucus and was able to secure a large number of supporters from the British Columbia business community. He was also supported by 19 BC Liberal caucus members, one former caucus members and Liberal Party Senator Larry Campbell.

On December 11, the Vancouver Sun reported that Falcon's social media traffic was the highest of declared candidates. Throughout the campaign he refused to call for a full public inquiry into the sale of BC rail and associated scandal, which involved allegations of bribes paid to Liberal insiders. However, he agreed to an investigation into why the government paid $6 million in legal fees for Liberal party aides Robert Virk and David Basi after they pleaded guilty to accepting bribes.

In 2012, a number of Falcon supporters 'fled' to the BC Conservative party, including former BC Liberal nomination candidate Rick Peterson. Falcon remarked that "a number of my supporters that may have done that and I’m not entirely surprised".