Smith's slim margin of victory suggests a challenge for the Alberta election
While Danielle Smith, the new leader of the Alberta UCP, did come away with a victory Thursday night, it didn't happen until the final ballot was tallied.
Political experts say a situation like that suggests she will have a tough time in the upcoming election.
"It was a bit of a squeaker. There were some real shocked faces in the room when the first ballot came in and she was below 44, 43, 41 per cent – was a bit of a shocker," said ThinkHQ's Marc Henry in an interview with CTV Calgary Morning Live on Friday.
"You knew it was going to be perhaps a longer night than you expected."
Henry says with about 230 days to go before an election, the UCP "jettisoned" a leader with 51 per cent support and then installed a new leader with just 54 per cent approval.
"It doesn't exactly scream 'unity.' Danielle Smith has a pretty significant task ahead of her, trying to bring that party back together and in a very short period of time," he said.
Henry says the UCP was built on one premise – to defeat the NDP in an election – so it's natural that a lot of their thinking doesn't connect.
"They were sewn together for electoral purposes. So, it's a fairly young party in that sense – they don't have a lot of history."
He adds some of the viewpoints that Smith touched on in her victory speech were appealing to UCP voting members, but might be less palatable by a wider range of Albertans.
"(They) would be seen as more extreme views to the mainstream of the electorate. At some point, she is going to have to tailor her message to capture a broader audience."
Henry says Calgary will be "the battleground" for Smith in next year's election and while her rhetoric may work in some communities, it likely won't there.
"It's going to come down to Calgary to decide who will be government in the next election – there are a lot of seats here. So, it's very important to both the NDP and the UCP that they capture the majority of seats in Calgary."
According to data, there are approximately 124,000 registered members of the Alberta UCP and about 83,000 cast ballots were cast in the leadership vote.
Smith claimed victory, and the office of Alberta's premier, with just 53.8 per cent or about 45,000 ballots.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
OPINION What King Charles' schedule being too 'full' to accommodate son suggests about relationship with Prince Harry
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
Ontario man devastated to learn $150,000 line of credit isn't insured after wife dies
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Boy Scouts of America is rebranding. Here's why they're now named Scouting America
After more than a century, Boy Scouts of America is rebranding as Scouting America, another major shakeup for an organization that once proudly resisted change.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Rape, terror and death at sea: How a boat carrying Rohingya children, women and men capsized
In March, Indonesian officials and local fishermen rescued 75 people from the overturned hull of a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Until now, little was known about why the boat capsized.
'A huge difference': These adults born in the '90s partnered with their parents to buy homes in Ontario
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
How Drake and Kendrick Lamar's rap beef escalated within weeks
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca