Airdrie-Cochrane MLA Peter Guthrie is pleased that former Wildrose and Conservative MLA Danielle Smith has expressed interest in leading the United Conservative Party.
Today, Premier Jason Kenney will be speaking to UCP members in an online address during a special general meeting. The online meeting gets underway at 11 a.m.
Following the meeting, mail-in ballots will be sent to UCP members who bought a membership on or before March 19. The party had a 14,000 run on memberships prior to the deadline.
The ballots will ask “Do you approve of the current leader?”
Mail-in votes for the leadership review will be collected until April 11, but the results will not be revealed until May 18.
A vote of less than 50 per cent of the total votes will trigger a leadership election.
So far, Smith and recently elected MLA Brian Jean have said they intend to run for the leadership if Kenney fails to win his leadership review vote.
On March 24, Guthrie posted a statement expressing his unhappiness with the change from an in-person vote to a mail-in vote.
“"Membership signed up to the special general meeting in record-breaking fashion," Guthrie wrote on his social media. "However, after extensive polling and knowing full well that large numbers of registrations typically mean dissatisfaction, yesterday the UCP bard announced the cancellation of the in-person event — electing for mail-in balloting."
In a message to the Cochrane Eagle on April 7, he said he is pleased Smith is interested in the leadership of the UCP party.
“Regarding Danielle I think it is good for Albertan’s to see there are more options available. She is a bright hard working individual with experience,” Guthrie said.
He feels voters want options, but hasn’t decided if he will run for the leadership if there is an election for the top spot in the party.
“Personally I have made no decisions on leadership but as mentioned, it does appear that Albertans are looking for more potential candidates, so at this point I would encourage more entries,” he said.
