Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar says Shirley Bond has the full support from caucus as the interim leader.

Milobar and Bond were rumored to be frontrunners for the role.

“Strong congratulations to Shirley. She has the full support of caucus behind her. And really that’s always critical, to make sure any leader interim or permanent, has the support of the elected caucus moving forward. It’s nice that we now have that position in place, and we can look forward to getting other leadership positions in place.”

Despite not being named interim leader, Milobar says he will not be seeking permanent party leadership.

“That’s a certainty in my mind… I’ll be focused on looking on whatever critic role or task I’m assigned moving forward, and watching the main leadership race play out. Obviously we’ve heard from Todd Stone locally that he’s still considering it. I strongly supported Todd last time, and if he went again this time I’d have no problem supporting his leadership run.”

That said, the Liberals’ shadow cabinet will be in place by Dec. 7, when the B.C. Legislature resumes.

Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone also extended congratulations to Bond. He says naming a shadow cabinet will be the first big task on her plate.

He says Bond was a “top performer” for the Liberals during Question Period and says she’s been “relentless” in trying to get answers from the Horgan government.

“And so I think from that perspective she will ensure that we’ve got the right people in the right roles from an opposition critic perspective so that we’re doing our jobs in the legislature as best as we can to to hold the John Horgan government accountable.”

Stone says all 28 members of the Liberal caucus will have to step up and fill a role, after the party lost 13 seats under former leader Andrew Wilkinson.

Bond, the MLA since 2001 for Prince George-Valemount, was elected interim caucus leader yesterday, and will be in that role until a permanent leader is chosen sometime next year, likely in the fall of 2021.