United Conservative Party

United Conservative Party
Active provincial party
Leader	Nathan Cooper (interim)
Deputy Leader	Mike Ellis[1]
Founded	July 22, 2017
Merger of	Progressive Conservatives, Wildrose
Headquarters	4317 23B Street NE Calgary, Alberta T2E 7V9
Ideology	Conservatism
Seats in Legislature	29 / 87
Website
unitedconservative.ca
Politics of Alberta Political parties Elections

The United Conservative Party (UCP) is a political party which forms the official opposition in Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party.

History

The Wildrose Party largely consisted of former PC supporters dissatisfied with the longstanding PC government for various reasons. Three of the first five Wildrose MLAs were defecters originally elected as Progressive Conservatives.

A notable but unsuccessful attempt to collapse the Wildrose into the PC party occurred in November and December 2014 when two Wildrose MLAs joined the PCs. Weeks later, the then Wildrose Party and Official Opposition leader Danielle Smith lead most of the rest of her caucus to cross the floor and join the then governing PC Party lead by Jim Prentice. The remaining Wildrose Party refused to consider the requested by Smith to dissolve their party. Then Wildrose President David Yager said at the time “This is not a merger in any way. It is capitulation.^[2]"

Many columnists blamed the mass 2014 floor crossings for the surprise election of the NDP in early 2015.^[3]

Following the May 2015 election, uniting the Wildrose and PC parties became a major issue.

In July 2016 Jason Kenney announced that he would seek the PC leadership on a platform of uniting into a new party with the Wildrose.

Brian Jean largely rejected calls for a merger with the PCs, and October 28, 2016 told Wildrose members at the party's AGM "In the months ahead, let's not put the future of our province at risk waiting for the PC party to figure out what they do or don't believe in.^[4]"

On December 15, 2015, Jean continued to reject proposals for a merger and stated that he would present an alternative plan, “It has to be something palatable to both sets of members,” said Jean. “And I think that our plan is, quite frankly, much more palatable to both sets of members.^[5]”

On the same day, Derek Fildebrandt came out as the first Wildrose MLA to openly support a merger with the PC Party when he told a radio station, "Frankly, I've heard enough. I think that people are pretty clear. They want a single conservative option to face against the NDP in the next election.^[6]"

Negotiations by PC Party leader Jason Kenney and Wildrose leader Brian Jean began shortly after Kenney was elected PC leader on March 18, 2017 on a platform of uniting the two parties. Negotiations were successful and the text of the merger agreement was released on May 18, 2017. Internal votes on the merger agreement were held by both parties on July 22, 2017.^[7][8] Following the ratification of the new party, the United Conservative Party leadership election is to be held on October 28, 2017 with both Jason Kenney and Wildrose leader Brian Jean expected to stand for leader of the new party. A founding convention of the party to be held in early 2018.^[9]

42,617 Wildrose members were eligible to vote on July 22, 2017. There was a 57 per cent turnout with 23,466 voters (95%) in favour of the agreement and 1,132 (5%) against, clearing the 75% threshold required by the party's constitution. The Progressive Conservative membership also approved the agreement by a margin of 95% to 5%. With a turnout of 55% of eligible members, 25,692 PC members voted yes and 1,344 voted no, with 24 spoiled ballots; the PC party's constitution required a simple majority of its membership to approve the merger.^[10][11]

Despite the overwhelming vote for a merger, some Wildrosers are expected to not join the united party with a group of constituency association presidents meeting later in July to discuss forming a new party. Similarly, at least 10 directors of the PC Party have resigned since Jason Kenney became leader, with some former Tories working to build a centrist alternative to both the United Conservatives and the NDP before the next provincial election.^[10] The second-place PC leadership candidate and MLA for Vermilion-Lloydminster, Richard Starke, announced on July 24 that he will not join the UCP, and will sit in the legislature as an Independent PC MLA. ^[12]

A joint meeting of the PC and Wildrose caucuses was held on July 24, 2017, to elect Nathan Cooper, Wildrose MLA for Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills, as interim leader--and hence Leader of the Opposition--^[13] over Prasad Panda, Wildrose MLA for Calgary-Foothills, and Richard Gotfried, PC MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek.^[14] As well, members of both caucuses will be approaching the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and ask to be recognized as the United Conservative caucus.^[11]

Kenney and Jean will be selecting six individuals each to sit on the interim executive board of the new party. The interim UCP leader will also appoint two MLAs to the board as non-voting members. The new party is registered with Elections Alberta as of July 31, 2017.^[14]

Policy and identity

The UCP will hold its founding convention to set its official policies after it chooses a permanent leader.^[15]

Leadership

• Nathan Cooper, interim leader, July 24, 2017 — present

Caucus

References

External links

• Unity Agreement in Principle -founding document

Provincial political parties in Alberta
Legislative Assembly	New Democratic (55) United Conservative (29) Liberal (1) Alberta Party (1) Progressive Conservative (1)
Other registered parties	Alberta First Communist Green Pro-Life (formerly Social Credit) Reform
Historical parties represented in the legislature	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Dominion Labor Independent Citizen's Association Labor Representation Progressive Conservatives Reform Movement Representative Social Credit Socialist United Farmers Veterans' and Active Force Western Canada Concept Wildrose

Politics of Alberta
Lieutenant Governor	Lois Mitchell Former lieutenant governors
Premier	Rachel Notley Former Premiers List of Premiers by time in office
Legislature	Current assembly Former legislatures Executive Council (Cabinet) Speaker of the Assembly Bob Wanner Opposition Leader Nathan Cooper Former Opposition Leaders
Political parties	New Democrats Rachel Notley United Conservatives Nathan Cooper, interim Progressive Conservatives Liberals David Khan Alberta Party Greg Clark Alberta First Communists Naomi Rankin Green Janet Keeping Pro-Life Alberta Jeremy Fraser Reform Randy Thorsteinson
Elections	29th general election (2015) Past elections Electoral districts Current electoral divisions
Other Canadian politics: Federal AB BC MB NB NL NS ON PE QC SK NT NU YU