Who should be in Danielle Smith's next cabinet? Experts outline the possibilities

Now that Alberta voters have decided Danielle Smith should remain premier, assembling a new cabinet will be among her first tasks.

She'll likely try to assemble a team with regional and demographic diversity with the right skills to lead in key portfolios, MacEwan University political scientist Brendan Boyd said.

However, politics watchers agree it will be more challenging with a smaller caucus and the loss of experienced ministers.

"It's going to be very difficult to put together a balanced cabinet that reflects the various identities that Albertans hold — and hold to be dear," political strategist and president of Decide Campaigns Stephen Carter said.

Preliminary results from Elections Alberta show voters elected 49 candidates under the UCP banner on Monday.

Smith has already said Jennifer Johnson, who won in Lacombe-Ponoka, will not sit in caucus after a recording revealed her making intolerant comments about transgender children.

That leaves Smith with 47 other members, down from the 60 she had before election day. Ten of them are women, Smith included.

Smith lost eight cabinet ministers on election night. Six did not win their seats, including Health Minister Jason Copping, Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon, and deputy premier and Skilled Trades and Professions Minister Kaycee Madu. Finance Minister Travis Toews, Environment Minister Sonya Savage and government whip Brad Rutherford didn't seek re-election.

The returning officer in Calgary-Acadia is conducting an automatic recount after Justice Minister Tyler Shandro lost to NDP challenger Diana Batten by seven votes.

Losing both Copping and Shandro – who both served as health minister – along with Jason Luan and Nicholas Milliken, who both served as minister of mental health and addictions, is a significant blow to bench strength, Carter said.

"It starts to get very slim pickings, very quickly," he said.

Smith's first cabinet, assembled in October after she won the UCP leadership race, was relatively large with 27 ministers.

Senior campaign strategist Mandi Johnson of Crestview Strategy says it was a move designed to unite a fractured team after a divisive leadership contest.

Johnson, who worked for conservative parties both in government and opposition, says Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides, who narrowly won his Calgary riding, is likely to get a senior post, along with ministers Rebecca Schulz, Rajan Sawhney and Brian Jean, who were both Smith's leadership rivals.