Alberta Premier Danielle Smith received 91.5 per cent support for her leadership from members of her United Conservative Party who voted in Red Deer, Alta., on Saturday.
“Our party is united as it has ever been,” Smith told the cheering crowd after the number was announced.
The party said 4,633 ballots were cast in the vote. The result solidifies Smith’s leadership of Alberta’s governing party and confirms party members agree with the direction she has taken the province since she took over the party two years ago.
Earlier Saturday, Smith made her pitch to continue as leader by reminding the 6,000 members at the annual general meeting that the party needs to stay united in order make the province better.
“We are on the right path,” Smith told a packed Westerner Centre earlier Saturday morning. “And we’ve only just begun.
“So let us remain united as a party and as a movement — but let us not sink to the level of our opponents by attacking and vilifying one another, or breaking into factions.”
Unity, she said, will help fend off challenges from federal and provincial parties on the other side of the political spectrum.
“Our opponents — whether that be in the NDP in Alberta, or the Liberals in Ottawa — have no chance to defeat us when we as a party are strong, unified and boldly governing our province,” she said in her keynote address Saturday morning.
Smith’s cabinet, and many party members in attendance, donned buttons and T-shirts that called for her support in the vote.
Smith’s speech Saturday morning was punctuated by resounding applause from the crowd. However, two groups mounted campaigns to vote against her.
The 1905 Committee and Take Back Alberta believe Smith hasn’t gone far enough in her campaign promises from the 2023 election. They say she hasn’t done enough to seek accountability for vaccine mandates and COVID-related business closures during the pandemic.
Former Progressive Conservative premiers Ed Stelmach and Alison Redford won 77 per cent support in their reviews, but were soon pushed out of their leadership positions.
Former UCP premier Jason Kenney received 51 per cent support in the May 2022 review and resigned as a result.
Smith received 54 per cent on the sixth ballot to win the leadership in 2022. She told reporters she hoped to get more than that on Saturday.
“You can’t get 100 per cent of support of 100 per cent of members, 100 per cent of the time,” Smith said.
“I just hope that I’ve managed to gain ground on the last time they had a chance to offer their opinion.”
In her speech Saturday morning, Smith said she thought conservatism across the country has momentum on its side, and committed to keeping that momentum going.
“Our Alberta values of fiscal conservatism, free markets, individual freedom and personal responsibility are working and winning with the public more and more every single day,” she said.
“That, dear friends, is why it is more important than ever for our UCP government and our party to double and triple down on acting and governing like conservatives.”
“My commitment to each of you today is to do exactly that.”