Gordon Wilson is a Canadian politician from British Columbia.
Wilson was originally a largely unknown political figure in BC, and led the British Columbia Liberal Party, then a largely irrelevant "fringe" party which did very poorly in elections.
In the 1991 provincial election there was great resentment towards the ruling Social Credit Party of British Columbia and Premier Rita Johnston, but also skepticism towards the opposition New Democratic Party. As a third-choice, Wilson's party grew in the polls, but not significantly. His biggest break came after he succesfully negotiated his way into the leaders' debate, along with Premier Johnston and NDP leader Michael Harcourt. During the debate Johnston and Harcourt engaged in many bitter attacks, while Wilson, still not considered a serious contender, was able to successfully portray himself as an "outsider" who was above the partisan scrum of the other two parties.
After the debate Wilson's support dramatically rose, surprising even him. When the election finally came Wilson's Liberals ended up finishing second place, and becoming the official opposition to a new NDP government, and delegating the Socreds to a distant third.
In 1995, shortly before the next provincial election, Vancouver Mayor Gordon Campbell successfully challenged Wilson for leadership of the Liberals. Wilson lost, left the Liberals and formed his own party, the Progressive Democratic Alliance, and was re-elected as a member of the provincial legislature under the new party. In 1997 he accepted a cabinet position in the NDP government, which was widely criticized among his former supporters. He lost his bid for re-election in the 2000 provincial election.