RachelNotley
In addition to her resigning as leader of the Alberta NDP Rachel Notley she also vacated her Edmonton-Strathcona seat on December 30. Yesterday the new Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi announced he’s seeking the party’s nomination to run as a candidate in Notley's vacant Edmonton-Strathcona riding. Nenshi was mayor of Calgary for more than a decade and will now divide his time between the two cities.
Premier Danielle Smith has until until June 30 to call a byelection but on Friday she said the byelection would be called before the deadline.
After being a prominent figure in Alberta politics for 17 years, on Thursday Rachel Notely announced her pending resignation as MLA for Edmonton-Stratcona . Notely was first elected to represent the Edmonton-Strathcona riding in 2008, then became leader of the provincial NDP in 2014, led the NDP to victory in 2015 but the NDP failed to repeat that in the next two elections. On January 16th, 2024 Notely announced her plans to step down as leader of the Alberta NDP and on Thursday she announced her intention to resign as an MLA effective December 30, 2024.
Notely says she and her family have been long time residents of Strathcona and have no intention of moving. Although her role in provincial politics will soon be over its unlikely that Notely will just fade into the sunset so we'll have to wait to see what her next chapter might be.
Sometime this afternoon the new party leader of the Alberta NDP will be officially announced and with that announcement will come the end of Rachel Notley's role as leader of the Alberta NDP. Rachel Notley has been in provincial politics since 2006 when she campaigned to succeed retiring Edmonton-Strathcona MLA Raj Pannu and she won the seat in 2008. In 2014 she was elected as leader of the Alberta NDP, which she will remain until later today.
No matter your party/unparty affiliations or leanings 22 years in politics is a long, long time. She has served her constituency, her party, Alberta and Canada and well be remembered for that. She states that Federal politics is out of the picture and doing nothing is probably out of the picture too, whatever future endeavours she chooses to give herself to remains to be seen.
Best wishes Rachel Notley!
The leadership race for the Alberta NDP will begin February 5th and conclude 12:00 P.M. on June 22nd. An application and disclosure form for wanting to enter the leadership race will available from the party beginning today. Those who want to participate in the voting process must be NDP members in good standing as of April 22. Voting will be by online, mail-in and phone and results will be announced June 22nd at which time Rachel Notley’s legacy will be celebrated and the new leader's vision made public.
Rachel Notley confirmed rumors yesterday when she announced her intention to step down as leader of the NDP. Rachel Notley was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2008, elected leader of the NDP in 2014, premier of Alberta 2015 to 2019 and leader of the opposition since then. Notely will stay on as leader of the NDP until a new leader is chosen but has not said how long she plans to remain as an MLA. She has also stated that she is “absolutely not” pursuing a role in federal politics.
It seems every political party has internal conflicts so its not surprising that at a news conference yesterday NDP leader Rachel Notley was asked about a letter alleging disrespect and mistreatment of party volunteers as well as other issues. Rachel Notley responded that the executive is looking into it but would not commit to making the results of the investigation public.
A new leader may give the NDP a new face, new ideas and new impetus.