Though honoured to have represented the Shuswap for the last 11 years, MLA Greg Kyllo is happy to step back from politics and spend more time with family... for now.

"I'm quite happy to be out of it...  I don't have any desire to bet back into politics at all, for the short term," Kyllo said. "It's been great, I have zero regrets about seeking the nomination... but for right now, I'm just happy to spend time with [wife] Georgina and the kids."

Kyllo is also happy with the timing of his political retirement, having made the announcement last October, well before the recent upheaval in regard to the provincial election when leader Kevin Falcon made the "unprecedented" decision to withdraw the party. 

While that changed the landscape of the election with a number of Independent candidates, Kyllo said he wasn't surprised at all by the outcome. 

"Out of 2,500 elections that have happened in the history of B.C., there's only been three instances where an Independent has won. So it's very rare... statistically, it just doesn't happen," he said. "I think out of 40 Independent candidates that ran in this election, not a single one actually won their seat." 

He added that most people identify with a party as a Liberal, Conservative, Green, etc., but "nobody says 'I'm an Independent'."

Though happy with his decision to leave politics, Kyllo admitted there will be a lot of things he'll miss about being the MLA, with one of those being his constituency assistant Holly Cowan who decided to retire at the same time. Having worked with former MLA George Abbott for 11 years, and another 11 with Kyllo, she proved to be invaluable.  

"Holly was just fantastic, I feel very blessed at having had her working in the office," Kyllo said. "And anybody that ever had any direct involvement with the office would know that she's just... such a bright spot in anybody's day. Always so happy and willing to listen, and very compassionate."

In addition to Cowan, all his constituents helped make the job what it was.