Embattled B.C. NDP Leader Adrian Dix says he will stay on as head of the party despite last week's surprise election defeat.

"This was an impossibly disappointing result," he said. "As leader of the B.C. NDP, I take full responsibility for this defeat."

Dix said the election campaign simply wasn't good enough to sway voters, and acknowledged his flip-flop on the Kinder-Morgan pipeline hurt the campaign.

"I didn't handle the issue very well," he said.

Dix said he has taken time to reflect and speak with party members since the election, and is committed to holding a comprehensive review of what went wrong.

"This review will spare nothing and no one, least of all me."

He said the party is gearing up for the upcoming legislative session and plans to keep its promise of holding government to account, adding the party is committed to winning the next provincial election.

"We will carry on, we will learn and get better and we will succeed next time."

NDP widely predicted to win election

B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark is expected to speak to reporters on Thursday. (CBC)

This is the first time Dix spoke to media following a week of silence after the election defeat.

The NDP went into last Tuesday’s election with every expectation of forming the next provincial government.

Following the surprise loss to the B.C. Liberals — who took 50 of the province’s 85 ridings — some within the NDP have called for Dix to take responsibility for the stunning loss and step aside immediately.

B.C. Liberal Leader Christy Clark, meanwhile, has been on vacation with her son for the past few days.

She is scheduled to hold a news conference with her new MLAs elect in Vancouver on Thursday.

Clark will face questions about whether she plans to run in a byelection in order to secure a seat in the legislature, and who will form her new cabinet.