Dylan Caporn: Mettam faces leadership pressure as Liberals seek to rebuild with candidates like Zempilas

It was a bizarre poetic metaphor that an errant doorbell chimed while Libby Mettam swatted away questions about the security of her leadership. After all, “for whom the bell tolls” is just a fancy way of asking if her leadership is under pressure. Speculation is rife that Mettam will not survive the “killing season” for leaders amid concerns her party can’t win back enough seats in March. It represents a desperate bid by the Liberals to rebuild, so they’ve picked prominent candidates like Basil Zempilas and Sandra Brewer. But Zempilas is not just on the minds of Churchlands’ voters, but some of those looking for an alternative premier in the Liberals. Faced with questions amid the ringing, Mettam attacked the media’s “obsession” with Zempilas and his threat to her leadership. It’s the same “obsession” and name recognition the Liberals have been counting on to win back Churchlands. “It tolls for thee,” poet John Donne finished with. For Mettam, the chimes are getting louder.