A day after her party’s attempts to challenge the Progressive Conservatives in a byelection in four Alberta ridings failed, Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith was talking about her future with the party.
PC candidates won in all four ridings Monday night, only one race ended with a Wildrose candidate close – in Calgary-West, PC candidate Mike Ellis and Wildrose candidate Sheila Taylor finished just over 300 votes apart, or with a little less than 3 percent separation.
In Edmonton-Whitemud and Calgary-Elbow, the Wildrose candidates finished third, after the NDP and Alberta Party, respectively.
“Each of our candidates ran neck and neck with the PCs every step of the way, and although tonight didn’t turn out as we hoped, we have shown we are a clear alternative,” Smith said Monday.
Smith said Wildrose candidates challenged the governing Tories, despite running in ridings that have historically been PC strongholds.
“Calgary-West is where it all began with Peter Lougheed, Calgary-Elbow with two premiers, Redford and Klein, and [Edmonton]-Whitemud which was the home of Don Getty as well as Dave Hancock,” Smith said.
On Tuesday, Smith said she had asked the Wildrose Party President to ask party members to review her leadership at their Annual General Meeting in Red Deer November 14 and 15.
“Since I’ve had two opportunities now to contest elections, both not going the way we planned,” Smith said Tuesday. “[It] seems to me a good opportunity for my members to make that choice once again.”
Under the party’s constitution, a leadership review is not required until after the next general election.
With files from Laura Tupper
