Alberta Premier Jason Kenney resigning as UCP leader despite narrow win in leadership review
CBC
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced his resignation as United Conservative Party leader Wednesday after receiving 51.4 per cent approval of his leadership from UCP members.
"The result is not what I hoped for or frankly what I expected," Kenney told a gathering of supporters and volunteers in Calgary after the results of the leadership review were announced.
"While 51 per cent of the vote passes the constitutional threshold of a majority, it clearly is not adequate support to continue on as leader."
Kenney had previously suggested he would accept a result of 50 per cent plus one.
Party members were asked to answer yes or no to the question "Do you approve of the current leader?"
Of the 34,298 party members who mailed in ballots by the May 11 deadline, 17,638 said yes and 16,660 said no.
In his short address, Kenney said he advised party president Cynthia Moore of his intention to step down and asked that the party schedule a leadership election as soon as possible.
The UCP caucus is set to meet Thursday morning at the McDougall Centre in Calgary.
Kenney will remain party leader until a interim leader is chosen. It isn't known if he intends to continue as the MLA for Calgary-Lougheed.
"It's a great night for Alberta," said Rob Smith, president of the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills UCP constituency association.
Smith is surprised Kenney stepped down but says he did the right thing.
"If there is close to 50 per cent or 48.6 per cent of the people against you, that's actually not enough to be able to lead a party," he said.
Smith had emerged as a critic of Kenney's leadership and how the UCP board handled calls for a review. He said a turning point for him was a virtual meeting between Kenney and the Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills constituency association in March 2021.
Smith said Kenney became defensive when he was told he needed to spend more time talking to the party grassroots.
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