Editing BC United (section)

===Official Opposition under Campbell: 1993–2001===
Once Campbell became leader, the Liberals adopted the [[moniker]] "BC Liberals" for the first time, and soon introduced a new logo and new party colours (red and blue, instead of the usual "Liberal red" and accompanying [[maple leaf]]). The revised name and logo was an attempt to distinguish itself more clearly in the minds of voters from the federal [[Liberal Party of Canada]].

In early 1994, Campbell was elected to the legislature in a by-election. Under his leadership, the party began moving to the right, gaining support from members of the former Social Credit Party and, later, the provincial [[Reform Party of British Columbia|Reform Party]].<ref name="Rayside2017" />{{verify inline|date=May 2023|reason=Presumptive fix for referencing error}} Some moderate Socreds had begun voting Liberal as far back as the Vander Zalm era. The Liberals won two former Socred seats in by-elections held in the Fraser Valley region, solidifying their claim to be the clear alternative to the existing BC NDP government. The Liberal party also filled the vacuum created on the centre-right of the BC political spectrum by Social Credit's collapse.

In the [[1996 British Columbia election|1996 election]], the BC Liberals won the popular vote. However, much of the Liberal margin was wasted on large margins in the outer regions of the province; they only won eight seats in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. In rural British Columbia, particularly in the [[British Columbia Interior|Interior]] where the railway was the lifeblood of the local economy – the BC Liberals lost several contests because of discomfort that the electorate had with some of Campbell's policies, principally his promise to sell [[BC Rail]]. The net result was to consign the Liberals to opposition again, though they managed to slash the NDP's majority from 13 to three.

After the election, the BC Liberals set about making sure that there would be no repeat of 1996. Campbell jettisoned some of the less popular policy planks in his 1996 platform, most notably a promise to sell BC Rail, as the prospect of the sale's consequences had alienated supporters in the Northern Interior ridings.