POLL Smith and Jean ahead in UCP leadership race to replace Kenney
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Summary
After Jason Kenney stepped down as Alberta s premier in May, a new United Conservative Party (UCP) leadership candidate emerged to fill the void left by the departure of Premier Jason Kenny. The emerging roster of leadership candidates comprises some familiar faces who are already out ahead of their rivals.
Transcript
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The Canadian non-profit Angus Reid Institute has found in a survey that Danielle Smith and Brian
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Jean are neck and neck in the race for the UCP leadership spot. Smith and Jean currently have
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the most appeal for Kenny's replacement, with a quarter of Albertans polling their preference,
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with Smith coming in with 24% to Jean's 23%. Kenny's finance minister, Travis Taves,
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with 13% is the only other candidate to be selected by more than 10% of Albertans who express their
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view. The survey showed that half of Albertans were pleased to see Kenny step away from the
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leadership role. Alberta's summer media soundtrack will be its conservative politicos and their
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platform narratives as they charge head-to-head into the foray to reach the UCP's leadership spot
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offered up by Kenny's resignation in May. The summer storyline began quickly as the United
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Conservative Party leadership hopefuls jostle to capture the imaginations of Alberta's UCP
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membership ranks, following a soon-to-be former Premier Jason Kenny moving aside after scraping
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through on a confidence vote last month. Kenny joins the long list of Alberta Premiers who have
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failed to complete a full term. One in six respondents say they're upset Kenny stepped down.
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One third of those said they will still vote for the UCP in an upcoming provincial election.
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That election is not scheduled to take place until May next year at the latest. Kenny will keep the
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Premier role until the UCP elects a new leader on October 6th. The emerging roster of leadership
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candidates comprises some familiar faces who are already out ahead of their rivals. Former Wild
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Rose Party leader Gene, who finished second to Kenny in the inaugural UCP leadership race, and Smith,
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also a former leader of the Wild Rose Party. Danielle Smith is familiar to most Albertans after having led
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members in a controversial floor crossing over to the now extinct Progressive Conservative Party in 2015.
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The event might have been the reason for the PC's defeat in that year's provincial election.
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Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner is waiting in the wings as she indicated she is considered
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entering the campaign. Her formal announcement has yet to be made. The Angus Reid poll was conducted
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before Rempel-Garner expressed her interest in running and consequently she was not included in the survey.
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In the meantime, Albertans across the province are focused on the issue of inflation. Two-thirds of
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respondents say it's a top-ranking provincial issue and 44% said the same of challenges facing the
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province's health services. 71% of Albertans said the government has done poorly on both healthcare
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and the rising cost of livings. Despite Albertans concerns about UCP's performance on these bread and
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butter issues, support for both the NDP and UCP remained consistent. The two parties are statistically
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tied for the second quarter in a row. The UCP has a marginal lead over the NDP with 42% in the polls,
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followed closely by the NDP who garnered 40% support of those polls. Full survey results can be found at