Alberta UCP wins majority, Danielle Smith to remain premier

Albertans have elected another United Conservative Party government.

The UCP won a majority, with Danielle Smith set to return to the premier’s seat.

The race had been neck and neck up until the final moments. Despite losing some seats, the UCP was able to garner enough support to beat Rachel Notley’s New Democrats.

Smith has been the leader of the UCP since she won the leadership race in October 2022, replacing Jason Kenney.

“Well my friends, the election is now over. It is time to put partisanship, division, and personal and political attacks in the rear-view mirror. It is time to move forward, together, as all Albertans, no matter who we voted for,” Smith said in her victory speech Monday night.

“On that note, Rachel Notley called me earlier to concede the election with honour and with dignity. We all know about our differences of opinion, but I believe that Rachel Notley is a loyal Albertan who loves this province as much as I or anyone else. And she is deserving of respect and kindness and gratitude for the thousands of hours she has scarified to serve our democracy.”

More coverage: 

• Alberta election results and map

• Results slow to trickle in? No problem with vote counting, says Elections Alberta

Smith said her oath is to serve all Albertans — no matter how they voted. She vowed to work to convince voters that she “can be trusted to improve on the issues that you care so deeply about.”

In talking about some of her priorities, Smith didn’t hesitate to take aim at the federal government, saying Albertans need to come together and “stand shoulder to shoulder against soon-to-be-announced Ottawa policies” she says will “significantly harm” Alberta’s economy.

“We have been made aware that in the coming weeks, Justin Trudeau is planning on bringing forward new restrictions on electricity-generation from natural gas that will not only massively increase your power bills but will also endanger the integrity and reliability of our entire power grid, which we rely on during our cold and dark Alberta winters. In addition, the prime minister is already ready to introduce a de facto production cap on our oil and gas sector that, if implemented, will result in tens of thousands of jobs lost, tens of billions in lost investment, damage our province’s fiscal position, and bring economic hardship to Albertans,” she said.

Smith is inviting Trudeau to “come to the table in good faith to work collaboratively with Alberta” on a strategy that will work for both the provincial and Canadian economies.

The UCP leader won her riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat. Meanwhile, Notley was re-elected as MLA for Edmonton-Strathcona.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley concedes

Speaking to her supporters Monday night, Notley admitted the result was not the one the party had hoped for. However, there continued to be some fight in her concession speech.

“As a movement, we have grown our support in every corner of this province. I’m very pleased that we will be welcoming at least 10 more MLAs to our caucus who will form part of the largest official opposition this province has ever seen in its history, and that, as a party, we earned the largest percentage of the popular vote in our party’s history,” she said.

“We have achieved tremendous growth and opportunity for our future and for the values that we all share. However, tonight, I also know that we are all very, deeply disappointed in the overall result. We had all hoped for a different one. Moments ago, I called Premier Danielle Smith to concede the race and I congratulated her party on their victory.

Despite the loss, Notley says she had no plans to step down as the leader of the Alberta NDP. She is urging her members to continue putting pressure on the UCP.

“Now is not the time to let up. Now is the time to step up,” she said as the crowd began to chant her name.

Only 44 seats were needed to form government. As of 11:30 p.m., the UCP had secured more than 50.

Find all the results and more coverage on our website.

Recounts ahead in coming days

Though Calgary was long considered the battleground in this provincial vote, some of the city’s ridings came down to the wire even closer than expected.

Calgary-Acadia was separated by just seven votes, followed closely by Calgary-Glenmore with 30 votes.

Calgary-North was also close, with a 113-vote margin, as was Calgary North-West at 149 votes.

Also close, though not as close, were Calgary-Foothills and Calgary-Edgemont.

Robyn Bell with Elections Alberta told CityNews that all returning offices will be completing the official count process over the next 10 days before the official results are announced by the chief electoral officer on June 8.

In divisions where the difference between the leader and the runner-up is 100 votes or less, the returning officer will perform a full recount of all election day, mobile voting and special ballots. This is confirmed to be the case in Calgary-Acadia and Calgary-Glenmore, Bell said.

For areas where the difference is 101 votes or more, the returning officer will review all statement of votes, rejected ballots and objected ballots, she added.

In cases of either an official count or an official verification, Elections Alberta says all tabulator results are reviewed and verified.