One of the more remarkable developments of the past election was John Horgan's public relations transformation from hot-tempered opposition leader to a passionate premier in waiting.
Full credit has to go to the man himself, who, at 57 years old, in the middle of a provincial election campaign, with the pressure of a province watching, and the weight of his party's fortunes on his shoulders, quite simply chose to change.
After a televised radio debate in which Horgan earned criticism for his exasperated personal attacks against Premier Christy Clark, he abruptly shifted his attitude and tone.
The result is largely the John Horgan you see today - calm, reasoned, and surprisingly unflappable against his critics. He looks, and sounds, like the man he's about to become on July 18: B.C.'s 36th premier.
While Horgan deserves the nod for this personal gut-check, it wouldn't have come about without behind-the-scenes cajoling and coaching from his senior staff.
It's a lesson in why political staff are so important. And a warning to New Democrats as they began staffing the premier-designate's office last week with new top advisers who may undo the personal progress made by their leader.
NDP election campaign director Bob Dewar and communications guru Marie Della Mattia did what many before them had failed to do: They persuaded Horgan to listen to, and act upon, their advice.
It sounds simple, but few had been able to get the big lacrosse player from Langford to divert course from his worst instincts to argue with - and sometimes personally insult - those with whom he disagreed.
Some Horgan staffers have in the past simply reinforced the worst qualities of the leader.
Former chief of staff John Heaney, who was an old colleague of Horgan's from the 1990s NDP government, contributed his own tendency to try to bully his opponents during Horgan's early days as leader in 2014-15. But the two were old friends, and Horgan trusted Heaney's advice. It was a blessing in disguise for the B.C. NDP when Heaney abruptly departed to Alberta, where he's now Premier Rachel Notley's chief of staff. By contrast, neither Dewar nor Della Mattia were longtime Horgan loyalists.
Dewar came from Manitoba, with government experience, and had never even met Horgan before what was essentially his job interview as campaign director. Neither owed each other a thing. They chose to work together, and Horgan chose to trust and listen.
Together, Dewar and Della Mattia were seasoned and calm. Both have a good sense of humour. Neither yell or scream at staff. They'd developed a sort of routine, reinforcing each other's primary messages to Horgan about his calm demeanour. In the process, they brought out the best of their boss, developing his persona as a passionate fighter for the underdog.
Della Mattia is staying in the new premier's office. But regrettably for the NDP, Dewar isn't sticking around as Horgan's top adviser. He wants to go back to Manitoba to visit his family. While he'll eventually return to Vancouver as a "special adviser to the premier" he ceded his role as chief of staff this week to former Vancouver city councillor Geoff Meggs.
Meggs' sudden return to B.C.'s political scene should give New Democrats pause.
He last walked the halls of the legislature as then premier Glen Clark's communications director in the mid-1990s.
Among those who remember his tenure (and it predates my time), there are stories about his cantankerous and short-tempered comportment. Meggs appeared to eventually view his communications job as some sort of aggressive war against the media. Under Meggs, the Glen Clark premier's office routinely turned down interview requests and only allowed questions at staged media events on the approved "topic of the day."
Horgan doesn't need a chief of staff who reinforces his worst tendencies, like paranoia and aggression.
The NDP had better hope their leader's new chief of staff doesn't drag him backwards, just as Horgan is about to become the kind of premier New Democrats always hoped he could be.
