NDP sweep of Edmonton confirmed; Madu out as minister with fall to Ip in southwest

The Alberta NDP swept the province's capital city for a second time during Monday's provincial election.

Danielle Smith's United Conservative Party won a majority government in Alberta with 49 seats, losing 14 to the NDP. 

That party, led by Rachel Notley, was elected in all 20 of Edmonton's ridings. 

• Complete coverage of Alberta Election 2023
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When the NDP won the 2015 election under Notley's helm, the party swept Edmonton then, too.

The latest sweep wasn't evident until Tuesday morning, as results trickled in throughout the night. 

Among the highest-profile contests was Edmonton-South West, where Nathan Ip defeated UCP deputy premier Kaycee Madu by earning 56.5 per cent of the vote. Madu earned 42.2 while Green Party candidate Jeff Cullihall earned 1.3 per cent. 

"It's still sinking in, but I'm elated. I'm deeply honoured," Ip, an Edmonton Public School Board vice-chair and trustee, told CTV News Edmonton late Monday evening. 

Describing the 28-day campaign as gruelling, he added, "I'm excited to get to work for the people of Edmonton-South West. Tomorrow, I'm going to pack up my campaign office and start thinking about what the transition will look like. But maybe after that I'll take a break."

Edmonton-South West was the lone Edmonton riding the United Conservatives won in 2019, with Madu receiving just under 45 per cent of the vote and the NDP's candidate, John Archer, trailing behind at less than 42 per cent. 

Madu did not speak to media on Monday but in a statement posted to social media the next morning, he thanked constituents for the opportunity to serve them and congratulated both Ip and the United Conservative Party. 

My sincere thanks to the people of Edmonton-South West for allowing me the privilege to serve you in the past four years. In that time, we confronted difficult challenges and today, Alberta’s economy is the envy of the entire country.

We expanded the Anthony Henday Drive, built…

— Kaycee Madu (@KayceeMaduYEG) May 30, 2023

Madu was a member of cabinet in both former premier Jason Kenney's and Danielle Smith's governments. He last served as the minister of skilled trades and professions. In February 2022, he lost his job as justice minister for calling Edmonton's police chief after receiving a distracted driving ticket. 

SOHI REACTS TO NDP SWEEP

Overall in Edmonton, the NDP received almost 62 per cent of the popular vote and the UCP 35 per cent.

The last seat to finish reporting Tuesday morning was Edmonton-City Centre, which David Shepherd won with a 50.7-per cent lead over UCP candidate Richard Wong. 

Notley handily won her Edmonton-Strathcona riding with 79.7 per cent of the vote. The UCP's Emad El-Zein won 17.3 per cent and the Green Party's Robert Gooding-Townsend 1.9 per cent. 

Former city councillor Jon Dziadyk, running for the UCP, lost Edmonton-Castle Downs to the NDP's Nicole Goehring. They received 41.1 and 50 per cent of the vote, respectively. 

"Calgary still has representation in the provincial government. We don't," Edmonton's mayor, Amarjeet Sohi, noted on Tuesday. 

"I hope that provincial government would keep that in mind. That a million people in our city will not have a voice, a direct voice, in the cabinet. So how do we create opportunities for those voices to be included?"

Sohi said Alberta's capital city has been treated unfairly by past governments but that he was hopeful Smith and her government could give the city more attention now that the election was over. 

"This is a opportunity for [the] premier to reset that relationship and really look at why many Edmontonians remain dissatisfied with the provincial government. And the results are quite evident that a UCP government, a UCP party, has been completely shut out of Edmonton, not having a single seat. That speaks to many Edmontonians' dissatisfaction. But we want to work with government to help them overcome and understand why that is the case."

He also acknowledged the city has good relationships with some of the UCP candidates who were elected around the city. 

The NDP also held its seat in St. Albert.

In addition to Edmonton-South West, the NDP flipped several seats in the province's 87-seat legislature, including in Sherwood Park and Calgary.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Diego Romero