Christy Clark has been voted leader of the BC Liberals and the next premier of British Columbia, vowing to "put families first."

The radio host won the vote in a nail-biter over Kevin Falcon after three rounds of vote-counting, with Mike de Jong dropping off the ballot after the first round and George Abbott after the second.

Clark entered the convention hall at the Vancouver Convention Centre to cheers, handshakes and hugs from party members and MLAs. She stopped along the way to embrace children and swap cheek-kisses with supporters.

In her first remarks as party leader and premier designate, Clark addressed the B.C. public.

"I want you to be my partners in change in Victoria. I want you to be my partners in bringing in open government," Clark said.

She said her top priority will be families.

"Our government will be tuned into families as never before,ó Clark said. òThis is the foundation of our communities. This is the building block of our future."

More specifically, she promised to focus on job creation and fighting poverty.

After second and third preferences were taken into account, Clark notched up a total of 4,420 points -- 4,251 were needed to secure the win.

Second-place Falcon secured 4,080 points after three rounds of counting.

Clark thanked all of her opponents after securing the win.

"Each of us contributed something positive to this campaign and each of us has more to contribute," she said.

The premier designate also addressed speculation from some pundits that she would struggle to hold the diverse factions of BC Liberal party together.

"We are going to build a bigger, better, stronger coalition together," she said, standing in front of a crowd of BC Liberal MLAs -- many of whom had endorsed her leadership rivals. Clark had the support of only one sitting MLA.

Clark had a few words for outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell, too.

"Gordon, you leave B.C. far better off than you found it," she said.

About 62.4 per cent of registered Liberals cast votes on Saturday.

BC Liberal party members flock to convention

Earlier in the day, Clark told CTV News that she was prepared to work with whoever won the vote. She also declined to reveal who she'd picked for her second and third preferences.

She added that she hoped to carry the day, but would come away with something no matter what.

"You learn more from your losses than you do from your wins," she said.

Members of the public -- and registered Liberals -- were blocked from entering the convention hall until 5 p.m., leading to some angry confrontations with security guards.

Nonetheless, party members and curious members of the public trickled in from a cold and snowy day in downtown Vancouver.

Once inside, the party faithful grabbed glasses of wine and milled around, surrounded by a gallery of reporters. Some leaned against the stages or held up signs to show support for their favourite candidates.

A smattering of Liberal MLAs also joined the crowd, and even a couple of NDP leadership hopefuls -- Adrian Dix and Mike Farnworth -- posing together for photographs.

Ousted Liberal caucus member and outspoken MLA Bill Bennett was on hand, too. He told CTV News that all four candidates were "very, very solid."

Bennett described the leadership vote as a first step in the renewal of the party, and said the new leader would have to convince the Liberal caucus and the public to stay behind the party.

"They're going to have to convince the public that this is a new government, not the Gordon Campbell government," he said.