The election aftermath for Alberta’s NDP

Victory was within sight but out of reach for Notley’s party

Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley at an Edmonton rally on May 28, 2023 (source: Rachel Notley / Facebook)

It was a historic election result for the Alberta NDP.

Rachel Notley’s NDP won 38 seats in last week’s election and will form the largest Official Opposition in the province’s history. The NDP got more votes in this election than it ever has before, including a historic high of 49% in Calgary. The party ran the most sophisticated, well-organized and best-funded campaign in its history. 

But it fell short of its ultimate goal of forming government.

Since May 29, there has been no shortage of online handwringing, finger-pointing and narrative building about the NDP’s performance in the election and how it missed a chance to defeat Danielle Smith’s United Conservative Party.

In the early morning hours after the election, I described the NDP as having victory within sight but out of grasp.

It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and pick apart strategic and tactical decisions that were made under pressure in the campaign war room, but I do think the Alberta NDP needs to take an honest and thorough look at their campaign. In that spirit, I am going to share a few thoughts about the NDP’s election campaign and where the party sits now.

The New Progressive Conservative Party

The Alberta NDP’s historic roots are social democratic but today it is not a left-wing party, it is a centre-leftish party (with a heavy emphasis on the centre).

In a big shift to the political centre starting about two years ago the NDP purposely set out to recruit a slate of candidates that moderate conservative voters, especially in Calgary, would be comfortable voting for in this election. The NDP’s rebrand even included a new logo that inserted a little bit more blue into the party’s colour palette.

They were trying to position themselves as the new Progressive Conservatives and it almost worked.

NDP started strong but lost focus

The NDP started the election strong with a number of big pre-election announcements focused on health care and funding public services. I would even say they won the first two weeks of the campaign.