Career
His predecessor, Gordon Gibson, had held the party"s only seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia at the time of his resignation, leaving the party without legislative representation. Tothill soon announced plans to run as the party"s candidate in a pending by-election in North Vancouver-Seymour, although that by-election was cancelled by the issuance of writs for the 1979 election. In that election, the only one under Tothill"s leadership, the Liberals ran just five candidates provincewide and were entirely shut out of the legislature for the first time in their history.
Tothill resigned as leader in late 1980, and was succeeded by Shirley McLoughlin at the party"s 1981 leadership convention.
