2015 Alberta general election

2015 Alberta general election

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87 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 44 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	57.0%[1]
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rachel Notley Brian Jean Jim Prentice Party New Democratic Wildrose Progressive Conservative Leader since October 18, 2014 March 28, 2015 September 6, 2014 Leader's seat Edmonton-Strathcona Fort McMurray-Conklin Calgary-Foothills (disclaimed re-election) Last election 4 seats, 9.85% 17 seats, 34.28% 61 seats, 43.97% Seats before 4 5 70 Seats won 54 21 9[a] Seat change 50 16 61 Popular vote 604,518 360,511 413,610[b] Percentage 40.62% 24.22% 27.79% Swing 30.77pp 10.06pp 16.17pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader David Swann Greg Clark Party Liberal Alberta Party Leader since February 1, 2015 September 21, 2013 Leader's seat Calgary-Mountain View Calgary-Elbow Last election 5 seats, 9.89% 0 seats, 1.31% Seats before 5 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 4 1 Popular vote 62,153 33,221 Percentage 4.18% 2.23% Swing 5.71pp 0.92pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is a first-past-the-post election, seat totals are not determined by total popular vote, but instead by results in each riding. Riding names are listed at the bottom.
Premier before election Jim Prentice Progressive Conservative Premier after election Rachel Notley New Democratic

The 2015 Alberta general election was held on May 5, following a request of Premier Jim Prentice to the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Donald Ethell to dissolve the Legislative Assembly on April 7. This election elected members to the 29th Alberta Legislature. It was only the fourth time in provincial history that saw a change of governing party, and was the last provincial election for both the Alberta Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties, which merged in 2017 to form the United Conservative Party (although each ran a token candidate in the 2019 election).

The provincial Election Act fixed the election date to a three-month period between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year after the preceding election day – in this case, April 23, 2012. However, the act does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period.^[2]

As a result of the election, the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) were elected to a majority government under leader Rachel Notley. The NDP formed government for the first time in Alberta history since the NDP's founding in the early 1960s.

The 2015 election is sometimes called the "Orange Chinook", a reference to the province's dramatic swing to the NDP, the NDP's orange colour and the weather shifts occasioned by strong Chinook winds that southern Alberta commonly experiences.^[3][4]

The NDP win ousted the PCs, who were reduced to third place in seats. Prentice resigned as PC leader and MLA for Calgary-Foothills on election night.^[5]

The Progressive Conservatives (PCs) had a majority in the outgoing Assembly and had won every provincial election since the 1971 election, making them the longest-serving provincial government in Canadian history – being in office for 44 years. This was only the fourth change of governing party in Alberta since becoming a province in 1905, and one of the worst defeats a provincial government has suffered in Canada. 31 PC MLAs lost re-election to the legislature, the largest number in one election in Alberta history. It also marked the first time in almost 80 years that a left-of-centre political party had formed government in Alberta since the defeat of the United Farmers of Alberta in 1935 and the Depression-era radical monetary reform policies of William Aberhart's Social Credit government.^[6]

The Wildrose Party under leader Brian Jean remained the Official Opposition, gaining four seats since 2012 despite winning 81,814 fewer votes and a 10.1% lower share of the popular vote than in the previous election. The Alberta Liberal Party and Alberta Party each won a single seat with Alberta Party leader Greg Clark becoming the party's first MLA. The Alberta Liberal Party lost four seats, only returning interim leader David Swann to the Legislative Assembly.

Following the election, Notley and her cabinet were sworn in on May 24.^[7]

Overall, across the province, 1,488,248 valid votes were cast in this election.^[8]

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