About Gordon Campbell:
Gordon Campbell led the BC Liberals to power by winning 77 of 79 seats in the Legislative Assembly in 2001. Three years of government restraint and spending cuts and a conviction for drunk driving took a toll on his personal popularity, but Gordon Campbell turned British Columbia's finances around and brought in a surplus budget in 2005. Gordon Campbell and his Liberals won a majority government in the 2005 BC provincial election, and followed it up with a third majority government in the 2009 BC provincial election.
Although the 2010 Vancouver Olympics were a success, Gordon Campbell's third mandate ran into major problems with the introduction of the HST in BC. The HST was a surprise to British Columbians and came in the middle of a recession. Former BC Premier Bill Vander Zalm led a grassroots campaign that collected 700,000 signatures on a petition to send the issue to voters. It resulted in a BC referendum on the HST being scheduled for September 2011, and it kept the HST in the news every day. Campbell's popularity was seriously damaged and in November 2010 he announced his resignation as premier.
Premier of British Columbia:
2001 to 2011
Birth:
January 12, 1948, in Vancouver, British Columbia
Education:
- BA in English - Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
- MBA - Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
Profession:
- Realty development manager
- Small businessman
Political Affiliation:
BC Liberals
Riding (Electoral District):
Vancouver-Point Grey
Political Career of Gordon Campbell:
- Gordon Campbell worked as an executive assistant to Vancouver Mayor Art Phillips from 1973 to 1976.
- Gordon Campbell was a Vancouver city councillor from 1984 to 1986.
- He was elected Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia in 1986.
- In 1993, Gordon Campbell was elected Leader of the BC Liberals.
- Gordon Campbell was first elected to the British Columbia Legislative Assembly in 1994 in a by-election in the riding of Vancouver-Quilchena.
- He was re-elected in 1996 and 2001 in the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey.
- Gordon Campbell led the BC Liberals to a massive victory in the 2001 BC provincial election winning all but two seats in the BC Legislative Assembly, and he was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia.
- Gordon Campbell led the BC Liberals to two more majority governments in the 2005 BC provincial election and the 2009 BC provincial election.
- Gordon Campbell's government ran into serious trouble over the introduction of the BC HST in July 2010. By the fall of 2010, Campbell's presonal polularity was down to 9 percent in the polls, and he announced his resignation in November 2010.
- Gordon Campbell resigned his seat in the legislative assembly the day after his successor as leader of the BC Liberals Christy Clark was sworn in as BC Premier in March 2011.
