Alberta NDP united behind new leader

It was a bloodless coup.

- GRAHAM THOMSON

Naheed Nenshi, shown Saturday in Calgary after being named as the new leader of the Alberta NDP, won the leadership race by such a crushing victory that the party is pretty much his to do with as he wishes, writes Graham Thomson.

Alberta’s opposition New Democratic Party is now being led by a man who wasn’t even a member of the party until entering the leadership race in March.

Naheed Nenshi, noted for his “purple revolution” as Calgary mayor from 2020-2011 where he blended Liberal red and Conservative blue ideals, has gone full NDP orange.

Or has he? Nenshi, the outsider who avoided delving into policy promises, won the NDP leadership race by such a crushing victory that the party is pretty much his to do with as he wishes. That’s not how Nenshi would frame his victory, of course, but the leadership numbers give him firm control over a party obsessed with one objective: defeating Danielle Smith and her United Conservative Party in the 2027 provincial election.