BC NDP leader David Eby suffered a grim and sobering victory in Saturday’s election.

He remains premier. He will likely still get to govern—for as long as he can convince the two new Green MLAs to support him, and as long as his own party leadership remains viable, anyway. But the clock on his future, and the future of his government, is already ticking.

The preliminary results indicate a near-tie between the NDP and BC Conservatives at 46 to 45 seats, respectively. The BC Greens, with two seats, are once again holding the balance of power, like in 2017.

On paper, perhaps, that looks like a technical victory for the NDP.

But in many ways, the Oct. 19 election was a loss for the New Democrats. Not just the literal loss of its majority government, or the 11 seats lost or the five cabinet ministers turfed from office. But a larger loss of confidence in the myth of the all-knowing premier and his powerful office of unelected special advisors having the best read on how to solve the complex problems facing the province today.

Despite running with all the advantages of government right up until the writ drop on........

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