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Jason Kenney elected 1st leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party

Jason Kenney elected 1st leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party

Minister of Immigration Jason Kenney rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, January 31, 2011. Kenney's attack on the judicial system suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of how democracy works, experts say. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Jason Kenney has been elected the first leader of Alberta’s United Conservative Party.

Kenney, a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, won on the first ballot over opponents Brian Jean and Doug Schweitzer, taking 61.1 per cent of the vote.

Jean came second with 31.5 per cent and Schweitzer came third with 7.3 per cent. The announcement popped up on the party’s website well before the result was declared at the convention in Calgary.

The UCP, which was formed in July after members of the Progressive Conservative and Wildrose parties agreed to merge, is Alberta’s Official Opposition, so the new leader could become the province’s next premier after the 2019 election.

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“Hope is on the horizon and common sense is coming back,” Kenney said in a victory speech that slammed the governing NDP led by Premier Rachel Notley for being financially irresponsible and divisive.

He said the party can now focus on defeating the NDP in the next election.

“And now if we work hard, stay humble and earn every vote, we will ensure that this deceptive, divisive, debt-quadrupling, tax-hiking, job-killing, accidental socialist government is one (term) and done.”

Kenney extended an olive branch to his rivals Jean and Schweitzer by bringing them both on stage and praising them.
Kenney did not speaking to the media Saturday night. He plans to hold his first news conference as leader Sunday afternoon in Calgary.

Jean also did not make himself available to reporters following the announcement. His spokesperson, Matt Solberg, said Jean was disappointed but would take questions on Monday, the first day of the fall session at the Alberta Legislature.

During the campaign, Schweitzer urged the party to settle their positions on social issues like gay-straight alliances and LGBTQ rights. Otherwise, the NDP could paint the party as too socially conservative to represent mainstream Alberta, he argued.

“I look forward to continuing to advocate for those issues in this big-tent party,” Schweitzer told reporters on Saturday. He said he heard he was the second choice for many on the preferential ballot.

“I’m excited about the prospects for United Conservative Party going into the next election campaign,” he said.

Schweitzer said he plans to run for a seat in 2019 but he wanted to talk to Kenney first.

Questions about voting resolved

Kenney, 49, was briefly the leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative party when he won the leadership in March until the merger vote in July.

Jean, 54, is the MLA for Fort McMurray-Conklin, and led the former Wildrose Party for two years. He was a Conservative MP for a decade.

Schweitzer, 38, is a lawyer in Calgary. He is the former CEO of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party and managed Jim Prentice’s successful campaign to lead the Alberta PCs in 2014.

Party members had been voting online and by phone since Thursday morning. The voting closed at 5 p.m. MT. on Saturday.

On Thursday, Schweitzer and Jean asked the party to suspend voting because they were concerned about the security of personal identification numbers issued to members for the vote.

The party said it found no evidence of voter fraud and the process was allowed to continue as scheduled.

Both Jean and Schweitzer said they now felt confident in how the vote was carried out.

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