Tish Lakes last night at the NDP campaign office on the corner of Harvey Avenue and Cooper Road.

(JULIE WHITTET / iNFOnews.ca)

Despite a forecasted NDP comeback in last night's 40th Provincial Election, the party's campaign for change failed to hold sway over B.C. voters.   

"We're a little somber here as we're cleaning up the campaign office,” says Tish Lakes who got 25.41 per cent of Kelowna-Mission's votes yesterday, running as an NDP candidate.

Lake says she's worked with Steve Thomson in the past and wishes him well. Last night's vote percentage for Kelowna-Mission didn't surprise Lakes. "It was not too different from 2009," she says. She also says votes for last minute Independent candidate Dayleen van Ryswyk may have been diverted from Liberal and Conservative supporters.

What really surprised Lakes was the sampling method used to gauge the political leanings of B.C.'s voters.

"Now everyone is scrambling to figure out how the heck you read a poll," Lakes says. "Now we know we can't rely on that."

"It might change people's voting behavior, they might have presumed we would cruise through," Lakes says of the NDP's alleged popularity in recent polls.

Lakes admits she's concerned about the continuation of Liberal leadership in B.C.

"It's the governing structure I'm worried about," she says. “I'm concerned the Liberals may take some things for granted,” she says.

“I still strongly believe their promises about the budget were false and the Liquid Natural Gas forecast is questionable,” Lake says.

As for the safe-guarding of B.C.'s natural environment, Lake anticipates some political uproar over proposals to build new oil pipelines in the province. 

“I hope we don't see the equivalent of a war in the woods,” she says. “Questions around the Vancouver Harbour are still going to resonate.”

For now Lakes says it's time to organize, not agonize.

"We'll be challenging the government and holding their feet to the fire," she says.

It's also possible Lakes could pick up the torch again in another four years.

"I've learned that you never say never," she says.

"I'll defnitely be playing some role in the campaign. The next thing we're looking at is organizing for the Federal Election."

Preliminary election results for Kelowna's NDP candidates:

Tish Lakes - Kelowna Mission
5,409 votes
25.41%

Mike Nuyens - Kelowna Lake Country
4,569 votes
24.35%

Carole Gordon - Westside Kelowna
5,852 votes
30.10%

To contact the reporter for this story, email Julie Whittet at jwhittet@infotelnews.ca or call (250)718-0428.

News from © iNFOnews, 2013