Carole James resigned as leader today, as the BC NDP saga continues. Last week, prominent NDP MLA Jenny Kwan lashed out at James publicly, becoming the voice of the so-called "Baker's Dozen" who opposed James' leadership. Knowing that firing Kwan meant firing all 13 of them, James called an emergency caucus meeting for Sunday. Sunday came around, and the meeting got postponed for "private discussions." Turns out that meant James was writing her resignation speech.
Such a display of public in-fighting is rare in a system where the party is supreme and discipline is strictly enforced. Disunity goes down very badly with the public, and the Liberals are clearly trying to take advantage, saying that if the NDP can't even oppose properly, they can't govern either. As SFU political scientist Kennedy Stewart put it, "The Liberals were essentially in self-destruct mode, and the NDP out-self-destructed the Liberals."
The resignation of James might not be a bad thing for the NDP, in the long run, but for the near future the damage is obvious. James was never popular though, and if the NDP manages to elect a centrist, practical, charismatic leader, they will certainly recover. However, the NDP's problem is accentuated in that none seem to be in the cards.
The Liberal leadership race, however, is starting to see some credible hopefuls line up, to the likes of Abbott, Falcon, and now maybe even Christy Clark. It's no wonder that talent is showing up on the Liberal front. Add the NDP's internal warfare to a recent Mustel Group poll which placed the Liberals just 5 points behind the NDP, and suddenly the Liberal leadership looks much more appealing.
