B.C.'s two major political parties each found new leaders this year in Christy Clark and Adrian Dix, and both politicians tell CTV News they're bracing for trials ahead in 2012.

A year ago, Clark was a radio broadcaster with no interest in taking over the leaderless BC Liberals and Dix was an opposition health critic trying to help save his party from implosion.

But Clark changed her mind about running and beat out the competition to take the Liberal reins, and Dix came from behind to win his place at the helm of the NDP.

As premier, Clark inherited a slew of political messes ranging from the unpopular HST, to service cuts for the developmentally disabled, to an economy starting to tank.

"I knew there'd be a lot of surprises along the way that I didn't make but that I was responsible for cleaning up," Clark told CTV News.

She says the government will turn a new page in 2012 with new proposals promoting her "family first" agenda. But the Liberals face two byelections just as the BC Conservatives begin to rise in popularity and coming rate hikes for insurance and hydro won't be welcomed by voters.

"It is going to be a challenge, there's no question about it. But if we really focus on the jobs plan and trying to defend and create jobs across the province, we can find our way through these stormy seas in relatively good shape," Clark said.

With her party down in the polls, the single mother acknowledges that work is keeping her away from 10-year-old son Hamish. She still makes it to a few early morning hockey games, but there's rarely time for serious bonding.

"Before I ran is said, ‘OK, this is going to be hard.' But I didn't quite know exactly how hard it would be. It's had an impact on my family," she said.

Across the aisle, the NDP can taste victory on the way in the 2013 election, and Dix promises he won't let up the pressure.

"I'm going to focus on the things that matter most in the province. I'm not going to over-promise, we're going to say how we're going to pay for things, we're going to hold this government to account. I think that after 10 years, it's the Liberal party that's out of gas," Dix said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty