Alberta NDP name change pushed by group led by former MLA

Alberta's Progressive Future calls for Alberta NDP to distance itself from the Ottawa NDP

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley during the 2023 election (source: Alberta NDP / Facebook)

When I worked for the Alberta Liberal Party back in the 2000s, we had an inside joke that the Liberals could run Jesus Christ as a candidate in Wainwright and still lose. It was funny because it was probably true (the last time voters in Wainwright elected a Liberal MLA was in 1909) and was a reflection of how cynical we were that the party had any chance of actually winning any seats in rural Alberta.

I imagine more than a few Alberta NDP supporters felt the same when the results of the 2023 election started rolling in on May 29, 2023. Despite making big gains in Calgary and winning 38 seats province-wide, the party’s hopes of forming government were dashed at the city limits.

With the exception of Lethbridge-West, held by three-term MLA Shannon Phillips, and Banff-Kananaskis, won by NDP rookie Sarah Elmeligi, the NDP fell short of winning any seats outside of the Edmonton and Calgary areas.

A lot of ink has been spilled about why the Alberta NDP’s big lead in the polls evaporated ahead of the election and, while the NDP has been conducting its own election debrief consultations with party activists, one group has pinned the problem on the provincial party’s name.

Former MLA Brian Malkinson believes that a name change will help separate the Alberta NDP’s connections to the federal NDP in the minds of Albertans who might otherwise consider voting for the provincial party. Malkinson argues that having the same name as the federal NDP cost the Alberta NDP votes in this year’s election.