The 2012 Alberta general election was held on April 23, 2012, to elect members of the

28th Legislative Assembly of Alberta The 28th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from May 23, 2012, to April 7, 2015, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 2012 Alberta general election held on April 23, 2012. The Legislature officially resume ...

. A Senate nominee election was called for the same day. During the 2011 Progressive Conservative Association leadership election, eventual winner Alison Redford stated that if she became

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

she intended to pass legislation setting a fixed election date. After taking office, her government introduced a bill relating to the timing of elections, which was passed on December 6, 2011. Unlike other fixed election date legislation in Canada, the 2011 Election Amendment Act fixes the election to a three-month period, between March 1 and May 31 in the fourth calendar year. However, like other legislation, this does not affect the powers of the Lieutenant Governor to dissolve the Legislature before this period. The writs of elections were dropped March 26, 2012. Although the

Wildrose Party The Wildrose Party (legally Wildrose Political Association, formerly the ''Wildrose Alliance Political Association'') was a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The party was formed by the merger in early 2008 of the Al ...

led opinion polls for much of the campaign, on election night the Progressive Conservatives defied expectations to win 61 seats – a net loss of only five – en route to their 12th consecutive

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats ...

. The victory made Redford the third woman elected in her own right as a provincial premier in Canada (after

Catherine Callbeck Catherine Sophia Callbeck (born July 25, 1939) is a Canadian retired politician and the current and ninth Chancellor of the University of Prince Edward Island. She was the 28th premier of Prince Edward Island from 1993 to 1996, the third fema ...

in Prince Edward Island in 1993, and Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2011), and the first woman elected premier in a province outside

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundla ...

. On September 4, 2014, the Alberta PC Party became the longest-running provincial government in Canadian history.

Background

27th Legislature

The 27th Alberta Legislature saw a significant decline in the polls for the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs) and the popularity of Premier

Ed Stelmach Edward Michael Stelmach (; born May 11, 1951) is a Canadian politician and served as the 13th premier of Alberta, from 2006 to 2011. The grandson of Ukrainian immigrants, Stelmach was born and raised on a farm near Lamont and fluently speak ...

. The Wildrose Party was the primary beneficiary of voter migration in opinion polls from the governing PCs, after former leader

Paul Hinman Paul Hinman (born 1959) is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the former leader of the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta since 2020 and was formerly the leader of the Wildrose Alliance (2008–2009) and Alberta Alliance Party ( ...

won a by-election, and the party elected

Danielle Smith Marlaina Danielle Smith (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician and journalist who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta since October 11, 2022, and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 6, 2022. Smith e ...

as leader. On January 4, 2010, the Wildrose caucus supplanted the New Democrats to become the third-largest in the legislature when PC MLAs Rob Anderson (Airdrie-Chestermere) and

Heather Forsyth Heather Mae Forsyth (born August 1, 1950) is a former Canadian politician. She was named interim leader of the Wildrose Party on December 22, 2014, following the defection of the previous leader, Danielle Smith, and eight other MLAs. Forsyth is ...

(Calgary-Fish Creek) joined Wildrose. Later in 2010, former PC cabinet minister Guy Boutilier (Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo) joined, becoming the party's fourth MLA. However, their support has waned in the year following, as did polling fortunes for the Liberal Party, while the Alberta NDP was polling at double its result in the previous election. The Liberals lost two MLAs during the 27th Legislature — Dave Taylor (Calgary Currie) who left to sit as an independent, before becoming the first MLA for the Alberta Party; and Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East) who

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to join the PC caucus in November 2011. However, the Liberals gained one MLA in selecting Raj Sherman (Edmonton-Meadowlark) as their leader in September 2011, who had been ejected from the PC caucus in November 2010. On January 25, 2011, Ed Stelmach abruptly announced that he would not seek re-election, and would resign as leader of the Progressive Conservatives and as premier after a successor was chosen. Alison Redford was chosen as Stelmach's successor on October 1, 2011, and following her election the PCs improved their results in opinion polls. Her new government presented six pieces of legislation, the most notable of which regarded fixed election dates, an investigation into health care, and tougher penalties for impaired driving. All six bills were passed in the fall 2011 sitting of the 27th Legislature. The 2012 election is a result of the fixed election legislation, which fixed the date of the next provincial election in Alberta between March 1 and May 31, 2012, and requires subsequent elections in that period in the fourth calendar year thereafter. The law does not affect the ability of Alberta's Lieutenant-Governor to dissolve the assembly and call an election before that time. However, that is not likely to occur during

s. The legislature was dissolved and the writs were dropped on March 26, 2012.

Green Party dispute

A year after the previous general election the Alberta Greens became mired in an internal dispute that resulted in the collapse of the party, and its de-registration by Elections Alberta. Some of the former Green party executive, including former deputy leader Edwin Erickson, eventually joined the

Alberta Party The Alberta Party, formally the Alberta Party Political Association, is a political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. The party describes itself as a centrist and pragmatic in that is not dogmatically ideological in its approach to politi ...

, while others regrouped and founded the Evergreen Party of Alberta.

Results

As indicated on the maps, the rural vote split largely on regional lines. Wildrose support was concentrated largely in

Southern Alberta Southern Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. In 2004, the region's population was approximately 272,017.53rd parallel, while the PCs were reduced to just one seat in rural Southern Alberta. Wildrose won only three urban seats (two in Calgary and one in Medicine Hat) while the PCs won the majority of seats in both Calgary and Edmonton, swept Edmonton's suburbs and swept the two seats contested in each of Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge and Red Deer. The Liberals were confined to the two largest cities, winning three seats in Calgary and two in Edmonton. The New Democrats won all four of their seats in Edmonton. The PCs polled about 44 percent of the popular vote, and four cabinet ministers were defeated. The Wildrose won 17 seats to become the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

for the first time. It was a net increase of thirteen seats for the party, although two of the four Wildrose incumbents ( Guy Boutilier and

) were defeated by their PC challengers. The party polled more than 34 percent of the popular vote, more than five times their share in the previous election, and finished a close second in dozens of constituencies. The Liberals saw their share of the vote plummet by almost two thirds and polled under ten percent for the first time since

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C ...

. The result therefore appeared to give credence to speculation that Liberal voters from last election voted "

strategically Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

" for moderate PC candidates to defeat the more conservative Wildrose Party. Nevertheless, the five Liberal incumbents seeking re-election all managed to do so, with the Liberals losing the three seats where their incumbents did not run again. It was the Liberals' lowest seat total since the 1986 election. The Liberals were relegated to

third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a V ...

status in the Legislature for the first time since 1993. The

New Democrats New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

won four seats, double their previous total and enough to secure

official party status Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...

in the Legislature. Both NDP incumbents were re-elected. The NDP polled just under ten percent of the vote, marginally less than the Liberals' share and a modest increase from the last election.

Summary

!rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party !rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Party leader !rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" , Number of
candidates !colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" , Seats !colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" , Popular vote , - , style="text-align:center;" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;" , Dissol. , style="text-align:center;" , 2012 , style="text-align:center;" , % Change , style="text-align:center;" , #¹ , style="text-align:center;" , % , style="text-align:center;" , Change ( pp) , style="text-align:left;" , Alison Redford , 87 , , 72 , , 66 , , 61 , , –7.85 , , 567,060 , , 43.95 , , –8.77 , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 87 , , — , , 4 , , 17 , , +325 , , 442,429 , , 34.29 , , +27.51 , style="text-align:left;" , Raj Sherman , 87 , , 9 , , 8 , , 5 , , –37.5 , , 127,645 , , 9.89 , , –16.54 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Brian Mason Brian David Mason (born October 12, 1953) is a Canadian politician who was leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party from 2004 to 2014 and served the Minister of Transportation in Rachel Notley's NDP government. He also served as the Governm ...

, 87 , , 2 , , 2 , , 4 , , +100 , , 126,752 , , 9.82 , , +1.34 , style="text-align:left;" , Glenn Taylor , 38 , , — , , 1 , , — , , –100 , , 17,172 , , 1.33 , , +1.32 , style="text-align:left;" , Larry Ashmore , 25 , , —² , , — , , — , , — , , 5,082 , , 0.394 , , –4.16² , style="text-align:left;" colspan=2 ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, 12 , , — , , 1 , , — , , –100 , , 3,511 , , 0.272 , , –0.53 , style="text-align:left;" , Len Skowronski , 3 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 294 , , 0.0228 , , –0.19 , style="text-align:left;" ,

Naomi Rankin Naomi Rankin (born c. 1953) is a Canadian politician and the leader of the Communist Party – Alberta since 1992. She is the longest-serving political party leader in the province, and has run as a perennial candidate in every federal and provi ...

, 2 , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 210 , , 0.0163 , , +0.01 , style="text-align:left;" , Bart Hampton³ , 1³ , , — , , — , , — , , — , , 68 , , 0.00527 , , 0.00 , style="text-align:left;" colspan="4" , Vacant , 1 , colspan=5, , - , style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" , Total !429 !!83 !!83 !!87 !!+4.82 !!1,290,223 !!100.00% !! Notes: # Results at the count. # Results change is compared to the Alberta Greens in 2008. #

Elections Alberta Elections Alberta is an independent, non-partisan office of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta responsible for administering provincial elections, by-elections, referendums within the province. This is in accordance with the Alberta Election Act ...

lists Bart Hampton as leader of the Separation Party of Alberta, however the party's only candidate is party president Glen Dundas. The voter turnout was 54%.

Vote and seats summaries

By region

Gains, holds, and losses

Defeated incumbents

Notes: #Morton was an incumbent in

Foothills-Rocky View Foothills-Rocky View was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from under the First Past the Post voting system 2004 to 2012. History The Foothills-Rocky Vi ...

#Benito sat as a Progressive Conservative in the 27th Legislative Assembly, lost the candidate nomination, and ran as an independent #Boutilier was elected as a Progressive Conservative in the 2008 election #Danyluk was an incumbent in

Lac La Biche-St. Paul Lac La Biche-St. Paul was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post ba ...

#Lund was an incumbent in

Rocky Mountain House Rocky Mountain House is a town in west-central Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Red Deer at the confluence of the Clearwater and North Saskatchewan Rivers, and at the crossroads of Highway 22 (Cowboy Trail) and Highway 11 (David T ...

Opinion polls

File:ABelection poll.jpg, Graph of polling from the 2008 election to the 2012 election File:ABelection poll 2012.jpg, Graph of polling during the 2012 election showing trends by polling firm and party The following is a summary of

opinion poll An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinion ...

s leading up to the 2012 election.

MLAs not running again

;Progressive Conservative *

Cindy Ady Cindy Lou Ady is a Canadian politician and was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. She served in this capacity from the 2001 provincial election, being re-elected in both the 2004 provincial election and 2008 provincial electi ...

Calgary-Shaw Calgary-Shaw is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 current districts mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. This urb ...

Ken Allred George Kenneth (Ken) Allred (born December 30, 1940 in Pincher Creek, Alberta) is a politician in Alberta, Canada, who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, in which he sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative caucus. He i ...

, St. Albert *

Lindsay Blackett Lindsay Blackett (born February 8, 1961) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Calgary-North West as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Blackett was born Febr ...

, Calgary-North West * Doug Elniski,

Edmonton-Calder Edmonton-Calder was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1971 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 2019. Histo ...

Iris Evans Iris Sylvia Evans (born December 31, 1941) is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations for the Canadian province. From November 25, 2004 to December 15, 2006 she served ...

Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is located adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary, generally south of Highway 16 ( Yellowhead Trail) ...

George Groeneveld George Groeneveld (born 1940) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Highwood as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Groeneveld was born in Blackie, Alberta. He se ...

, Highwood *

Broyce Jacobs Broyce G. Jacobs (born July 29, 1940) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Cardston-Taber-Warner as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Jacobs was born in Cards ...

Cardston-Taber-Warner Cardston-Taber-Warner was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 1996 and 2019. The district was created i ...

* Arthur Johnston,

Calgary-Hays Calgary-Hays is a provincial electoral district mandated to return one member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada using the first past the post method of voting. The riding was formed in 2004, carved out of the Calgary-Shaw electoral ...

Ron Liepert Ronald Liepert (born October 8, 1949) is a Canadian politician who serves as the Member of Parliament for Calgary Signal Hill in the House of Commons of Canada. He previously served in the Cabinet of Alberta as Minister of Finance, Energy, Healt ...

Calgary-West Calgary-West (formerly styled Calgary West from 1957 to 1971) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Canada. The electoral riding of Calgary West is one of the two original Calgary ridings of the seven that ...

Fred Lindsay Frederick Lindsay (born March 12, 1946) is a politician and was a provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is o ...

, Stony Plain *

Mel Knight Melvyn Reginald Knight (born July 30, 1944) was the Minister of Energy of Alberta and a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. Early life Mel Knight was born July 30, 1944 in Beaverlodge, Alberta. His fat ...

Grande Prairie-Smoky Grande Prairie-Smoky was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first-past-the-post balloting from 1993 to 2019. The riding was created in 1993 when ...

Ken Kowalski Kenneth Reginald Kowalski (born September 27, 1945) is a politician and former teacher from Alberta, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, where he served from 1979 to 2012, sitting with the governing Progressive Cons ...

Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first-past-the-post method of voting from 2004 to 2019. The Barrhead-Morinv ...

* Richard Marz, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills * Barry McFarland,

Little Bow Little Bow was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1913 to 2019. Throughout its history, this district has been dominated by agricultural activities ...

Ray Prins Raymond Frank "Ray" Prins (born April 15, 1951) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Lacombe-Ponoka as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Prins was born April ...

, Lacombe-Ponoka *

Rob Renner Robert William Renner (born October 6, 1954) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for the constituency of Medicine Hat as a Progressive Conservative. Early life Renner was born October 6, 1954 in ...

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are wit ...

, Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville *

Janis Tarchuk Janis Tarchuk is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, representing the constituency of Banff-Cochrane Banff-Cochrane was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a ...

Banff-Cochrane Banff-Cochrane was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1940 to 1975, and again from 1979 to 2019. The Banff-Cochrane electoral district is home to ...

;Liberal * Harry Chase, Calgary-Varsity * Hugh MacDonald,

Edmonton-Gold Bar Edmonton-Gold Bar is a provincial electoral district, in Alberta, Canada. The district is one of 87 in the province mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The ...

* Kevin Taft,

Edmonton-Riverview Edmonton Riverview is a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. Created in the 1997 boundary red ...

;Alberta Party * Dave Taylor,

Calgary-Currie Calgary-Currie is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It was created in 1971 and is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The district ...

;Independent * Lloyd Snelgrove,

Vermilion-Lloydminster Vermilion-Lloydminster was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using first past the post method of voting from 1993 to 2019. The largest communities in ...

Timeline

*December 12, 2008:

Calgary-Mountain View Calgary-Mountain View is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting. The district was created in 1971 and ...

MLA David Swann wins the Leadership of the Alberta Liberals replacing Kevin Taft. *May 15, 2009: Calgary-Glenmore MLA

Ron Stevens Ronald Gordon "Ron" Stevens, Q.C. (September 17, 1949 – May 13, 2014) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta representing the constituency of Calgary-Glenmore as a Progressive Conservative until ...

resigns to accept a judgeship. *July 16, 2009: The Alberta Greens is deregistered by

. *July 18, 2009: Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo MLA Guy Boutilier is removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus. *August 29, 2009: Robert Leddy is chosen as the interim leader of the Alberta Party replacing Bruce Stubbs. *September 14, 2009: A

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

Calgary-Glenmore Calgary-Glenmore, formally styled Calgary Glenmore from 1957 to 1971, is a provincial electoral district in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The district is mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The electoral r ...

elects Wildrose Alliance interim leader

. *October 17, 2009: The Wildrose Alliance selects

to replace

as leader in a convention in Edmonton. *November 7, 2009: A

leadership review In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, ...

of Premier Ed Stelmach is held at a PC convention in Edmonton. He garners 77.4% support. *January 4, 2010: MLAs Rob Anderson and

defect from the PC to the Wildrose Alliance. *January 28, 2010: Edwin Erickson is acclaimed as leader of the

replacing Robert Leddy. *February 24, 2010: Alberta Boundaries Commission releases its interim report on new provincial boundaries. *April 12, 2010:

MLA Dave Taylor leaves the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent. *June 25, 2010: PC, turned

, MLA Guy Boutilier joins the Wildrose Alliance. *November 22, 2010:

Edmonton-Meadowlark Edmonton Meadowlark was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1971 to 2019. The electoral district l ...

MLA Raj Sherman is removed from the Progressive Conservative caucus. *November 24, 2010: Sue Huff becomes interim Alberta Party leader after Edwin Erickson resigns. *December 1, 2010: The Legislative Assembly passes a bill outlining 87 electoral districts, up from the current 83. The last re-distribution was in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

. *January 24, 2011:

MLA Dave Taylor sits as Alberta Party's first MLA. *January 25, 2011: Premier Ed Stelmach announces his intention not to run for re-election, and announces he will resign his post as Premier when a successor has been chosen at a leadership convention. *February 1, 2011: David Swann, Leader of the

Alberta Liberal Party The Alberta Liberal Party (french: Parti libéral de l'Alberta) is a provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1905, it is the oldest active political party in Alberta and was the dominant political party until the 1921 election ...

, announces his intention to step down as leader after the spring 2011 legislative session, though still acting as an MLA from

. *May 28, 2011: Glenn Taylor is elected leader of the

. *June 26, 2011: The Wildrose Alliance Party votes to change its name to

. *September 10, 2011: Raj Sherman is elected leader of the Liberal Party. *September 12, 2011: Independent MLA Raj Sherman joins the Liberal caucus. *October 1, 2011: Alison Redford is elected leader of the PC Association. *October 7, 2011: Redford is sworn in as premier. *November 21, 2011: Liberal Bridget Pastoor crosses the floor to join the PC caucus. *December 6, 2011: Third and final reading of Bill 21, legislating a general election between March 1 and May 31, 2012. *December 22, 2011: The Evergreen Party of Alberta is registered with

, Larry Ashmore is the leader. *January 27, 2012:

MLA Lloyd Snelgrove leaves the PCs to sit as an independent. *March 2012: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Richard Marz resigns. *March 26, 2012:

27th Alberta Legislative Assembly The 27th Alberta Legislative Assembly was in session from April 14, 2008, to March 26, 2012, with the membership of the assembly determined by the results of the 2008 Alberta general election held on March 3, 2008. The Legislature officially resu ...

is dissolved, and the writs are dropped. *April 9, 2012: Nominations close at 2:00 pm MT ( UTC−6), with 429 people running in 87 ridings. *April 12, 2012: A leader's debate is hosted by the Alberta media and news outlets at 6:30 pm MT. It was broadcast on multiple television and radio stations, Redford, Sherman, Smith, and Mason were in attendance. *April 19, 2012: Advance polls open 9:00 am to 8:00 pm MT. *April 20, 2012: Advance polls open 9:00 am to 8:00 pm MT. *April 21, 2012: Advance polls open 9:00 am to 8:00 pm MT. *April 23, 2012: Election Day **Polls open 9:00 am to 8:00 pm MT. **Media outlets declare a PC majority at 9:00 pm. *May 3, 2012: Official announcement of the results.

Background

27th Legislature

Green Party dispute

Results

Summary

Vote and seats summaries

By region

Gains, holds, and losses

Defeated incumbents

Opinion polls

MLAs not running again

Timeline

Nominated candidates

Northern Alberta

Central Edmonton

Suburban Edmonton

Western and Central Alberta

East Central Alberta

Central Calgary

Suburban Calgary

Southern Alberta

See also

Works cited

References

Bibliography

External links