Timeline: The 10-year conservative split in Alberta
The first leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party is expected to be declared at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Here is a timeline of Alberta’s conservative schism.
Aug. 30, 1971: Progressive Conservatives win their first majority government. They will hold power in Alberta for nearly 44 years. June 23, 2007: Wildrose Party formed in Red Deer as a reaction against existing political parties which members say won’t restrain provincial spending or challenge Ottawa.
Jan. 19, 2008: Wildrose Party of Alberta merges with Alberta Alliance Party to form the Wildrose Alliance Party.
Sept. 14, 2009: Wildrose Leader Paul Hinman captures Calgary-Glenmore in a byelection. Support for the party rises in 2009 as voters become frustrated with the PC government.
Oct. 17, 2009: Danielle Smith is elected Wildrose leader.
Jan. 4, 2010: Frustrated with Premier Ed Stelmach’s leadership, PC MLAs Rob Anderson and Heather Forsyth cross the floor to join Wildrose. This doubles the number of Wildrose caucus members to four. April 2012: Wildrose secures 17 seats in the election, forming the official Opposition.
March 23, 2014: Alison Redford resigns as premier. She is succeeded by deputy premier Dave Hancock on an interim basis.
Sept. 6, 2014: Jim Prentice wins the PC leadership race.
Nov. 3, 2014: Wildrose MLA Joe Anglin quits to sit as an Independent. Nov. 24, 2014: Wildrose MLAs Kerry Towle and Ian Donovan cross the floor to join the ruling PC caucus.
Dec. 17, 2014: Smith and eight other Wildrose MLAs — Rob Anderson, Gary Bikman, Rod Fox, Jason Hale, Bruce McAllister, Blake Pedersen, Bruce Rowe and Jeff Wilson — cross the floor to the PCs. Smith cites Prentice’s strong leadership and shared values. Five Wildrose MLAs remain.
March 28, 2015: Brian Jean becomes Wildrose leader. Prentice calls an election five days later. May 5, 2015: The NDP sweeps to power in the provincial election, winning 54 seats to form a majority government. Wildrose becomes the official Opposition with 21 seats. The PCs are decimated, retaining just nine of 70 seats. Ric McIver becomes interim leader after Prentice resigns.
Dec. 14, 2015: Wildrose MLA Derek Fildebrandt and PC MLA Mike Ellis hold a joint beer night in Calgary to talk about conservative unity. July 7, 2016: Calgary-Mindapore Conservative MP Jason Kenney says he’s leaving the House of Commons. He unveils his five-step plan to unite Alberta conservatives under a single banner in time for the next provincial election.
Oct. 1, 2016: PC leadership race officially begins. Kenney, Richard Starke, Byron Nelson, Donna Kennedy-Glans, Sandra Jansen and Stephen Khan all announce their intentions to run.
Nov. 8, 2016: Jansen and Kennedy-Glans withdraw from the race. Kennedy-Glans cites the polarizing nature of Alberta politics. Jansen points to harassment at the party’s November policy convention.
Nov. 17, 2016: Jansen crosses the floor to the NDP, saying the PC party is no longer the place for centrist views.
Jan. 26, 2017: Khan withdraws from the race and throws his support behind Starke. Starke announces he will pursue a PC-Wildrose coalition if elected as leader. Jean announces he supports a merger plan if Wildrose party members agree to it.
March 18, 2017: Kenney is elected PC leader with more than 75 per cent of delegate votes. Jean and Kenney meet two days later to discuss unity.
March 24, 2017: PC and Wildrose announce the names of their respective discussion teams as they take the first steps toward unity. May 18, 2017: Unity agreement details released.
June 1, 2017: Calgary lawyer Doug Schweitzer declares he’s running for leadership of the as-yet nonexistent United Conservative Party and releases a series of policies he would institute as leader.
Jun 22, 2017: Derek Fildebrandt, Wildrose MLA for Strathmore-Brooks, launches pro-unity group United Liberty and releases policies he’d like to see in the new united party.
July 22, 2017: Unity voting closes. Just over half of each party’s members cast a ballot. Yes wins with 95 per cent of the vote.
July 24, 2017: Jean officially announces his bid for UCP leader. Also that day, former PC cabinet minister Richard Starke says he won’t cross to the newly formed UCP. The Vermilion-Lloydminster MLA says he’s not confident his views will be welcome in the new party.
July 25, 2017: The United Conservative Party is recognized as the official Opposition by legislative Speaker Bob Wanner.
July 29, 2017: Kenney announces his official leadership campaign. Aug. 8, 2017: Fildebrandt says he will not run for UCP leader. A week later, he resigns from the UCP caucus following a series of expense scandals, including the disclosure that he was renting out his taxpayer-funded apartment on Airbnb. Aug. 10, 2017: Former Wildrose Party president Jeff Callaway announces leadership bid.
Sept. 12, 2017: Applications close for the UCP leadership race and candidates have to cough up half of the $75,000 entry fee.
Sept. 21, 2017: Former PC MLA Rick Fraser leaves UCP caucus to sit as an independent, citing increasing polarization of Alberta politics.
Oct. 4, 2017: Callaway drops out of UCP leadership race and endorses Kenney.
Oct. 5, 2017: NDP MLA Karen McPherson leaves her caucus to sit as an independent. Like Fraser, she points to polarized politics. Oct. 17, 2017: The fifth and final UCP leadership debate is held in Lethbridge.
Oct. 26, 2017: Voting for the new UCP leader begins.
Oct. 27, 2017: Schweitzer’s campaign cries foul at irregularities around the PIN process and using online location-blocker software. Party declares no rules are broken. Oct. 28, 2017: Voting closes. The first leader of the UCP slated to be announced in Calgary.