BC Liberals executive director steps down after poor election showing

One of the staffers behind the BC Liberals’ worst election performance since 1991 is stepping down.

Emile Scheffel announced on Twitter on Monday he will resign as the party’s executive director at the end of the year.

“After leading the staff team through a leadership race, two byelections, a convention, a referendum, and a pandemic election campaign, it’s time for me to figure out what I want to do if/when I grow up,” he wrote on the social media site.

“Whatever that turns out to be, I’ll be putting some time and thought into advancing mental health in politics.”

4:12 Laurie Throness out as BC Liberal candidate

Scheffel has been the party’s executive director since July 2017, and this year, also served as co-campaign manager.

The BC Liberals won or are leading in 29 ridings in the wake of the Oct. 24 provincial vote, compared to the BC NDP winning or leading in 55 ridings.

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The Liberals’ campaign was full of stumbles.

Andrew Wilkinson, who has already announced he will step down as leader, struggled to resonate with British Columbians and was widely criticized for how he dealt with some candidates’ comments on women, transgender rights, and birth control.

The biggest example was incumbent MLA Laurie Throness, who resigned over comments he made at an all-candidates debate, comparing the NDP’s free birth-control plan to eugenics. He ran as an independent in Chilliwack-Kent, though he was still listed as a Liberal in official preliminary results, and is projected to win second place behind New Democrat contender Kelli Paddon.

Wilkinson was slammed for not removing Throness earlier, such as after Throness’ initial insistence to continue to buy advertising in a Christian lifestyle magazine that featured transphobic material, despite the party publicly denouncing the publication.

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The party was also slow to respond to a video of MLA Jane Thornthwaite making sexist jokes about New Democrat MLA Bowinn Ma. Thornthwaite is expected to lose her seat in North Vancouver-Seymour, although mail-in ballots will not be counted until at least Nov. 13.

“I have no shortage of thoughts on the future of our party and movement, and I look forward to sharing them,” Scheffel wrote.

Wilkinson has said he plans to stay on as leader until a new one can be chosen. A timeline for a leadership race has not yet been released.

Some final election results are expected as early as next week.