WHEN I was tipped off on Tuesday evening that Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts was going to announce on Wednesday that she was going to run as a Conservative candidate from Surrey-White Rock, I didn’t believe it because it didn’t make sense that she would do so BEFORE the civic election.

Then on Wednesday afternoon I got a phone call that two South Asians had spotted Watts and federal Liberal fixer Prem Vinning at a small cafe just near Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains’ constituency office, which made me wonder what she was up to.

Then on Wednesday evening she announced her decision to run for the Conservatives.

That has given a severe jolt to Surrey First and it will be very interesting to see how things shape up now.

WATTS evidently felt that Surrey First was not going to do well in the civic election and her image would get tarnished. That would botch up her federal ambitions.

So she very shrewdly and opportunistically decided to quit now.

– RATTAN MALL