The 2023 Alberta general election was held on May 29, 2023. Voters elected the members of the 31st Alberta Legislature. The United Conservative Party under Danielle Smith, the incumbent Premier of Alberta, was re-elected to a second term with a reduced majority. Across the province, 1,763,441 valid votes were cast in the election.
The writs of election were issued on May 1, triggering the campaign. This was the first election following 2021 amendments to Alberta's Election Act which had set the date of the election to the last Monday of May, subject to the lieutenant governor's usual authority to dissolve the legislature sooner in accordance with the conventions of the Westminster system. This made it the first fixed-date election in Alberta.
Background The 2019 Alberta general election resulted in a majority government for the United Conservative Party led by Jason Kenney. The election of the new United Conservative government was widely predicted by pollsters and academics during the campaign. The United Conservatives captured 54.88 per cent of the popular vote and won 63 of the 87 seats in the Alberta Legislature. The incumbent New Democratic Party, led by Premier Rachel Notley, experienced a drop in its popular vote share from 40.62 per cent in the 2015 Alberta general election to 32.67 per cent, and formed the Official Opposition with 24 seats. The Alberta Party, led by former Edmonton mayor Stephen Mandel, received 9.08 per cent of the popular vote but failed to win any seats in the legislature. Various other parties and independent candidates combined for 3.37 per cent of the popular vote, without gaining any seats in the legislature. Journalist Graham Thomson described the 2019 election campaign as "more vicious, more personal, and more divisive" than any other campaign in Alberta's history.
The United Conservatives were formed through the merger of the two major conservative parties in Alberta, the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party, in 2017. Jason Kenney, a former member of Parliament and minister in Stephen Harper's Conservative Party of Canada federal government, won the 2017 Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta leadership election on a platform of uniting the right-wing parties in Alberta. The merger took place after 95 per cent of Wildrose Party members voted in favour of joining the new United Conservative Party and forming the Official Opposition. In the same year, Jason Kenney won the 2017 United Conservative Party leadership election and became the leader of the Opposition.
Initially, the Kenney government enjoyed substantial support among Albertans, with an approval rating of 60 per cent in June 2019. Kenney's approval rating started to decline with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, dropping below 50 per cent in February 2020 and falling further to below 33 per cent by June 2021. Growing dissatisfaction within the United Conservative Party led to calls for a leadership review, with discontent primarily centred around the Kenney government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Central Peace-Notley MLA Todd Loewen resigned, and the United Conservative Caucus voted to expel both Loewen and Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Drew Barnes on May 13, 2021. On May 18, 2022, Kenney announced his intention to resign as the leader of the United Conservative Party, after receiving only 51.4 per cent support during the party's leadership review.
The 2022 United Conservative Party leadership election was held on October 6. Former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith returned to politics and defeated five other candidates to become the party leader. After being sworn in as the premier of Alberta on October 11, the Smith ministry was presented on October 21. On May 1, 2023, acting on the premier's advice, the lieutenant governor dissolved the legislature and called an election for May 29.
Procedure Procedures for provincial elections in Alberta are governed by the Election Act, and financial regulatory aspects are governed under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act.Election Act, RSA 2000, c E-1.Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, RSA 2000, c E-2. Eligibility to vote in 2023 was limited to Canadian citizens aged 18 years of age or older, and who was an ordinary resident of an Alberta electoral district.; Election Act, RSA 2000, c E-1, ss 1(1)(j), 16.
Under the Election Finances and Contributions Disclosure Act, total expenses by political parties were limited to a total of $3,208,127 during the election period from when the writ was dropped to the election day, which was $1.16 per registered elector. Individual candidates expenses were limited to $53,100 during the election period. Third-party advertisers were limited to $159,200 during the election period.
In 2021, the Alberta Legislature passed the Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2021 (No. 2),Bill 81: Election Statutes Amendment Act, 2021 (No. 2), SA 2021, c 24, 2nd Session, 30th Legislature. which amended both the electoral acts to fix the election date to be the last Monday in May unless the lieutenant governor dissolves the Legislature sooner. The bill raised total election expense limits for each political party from $2 million to a formula of $1.16 per elector, which was expected to be near $3.2 million. The bill also prohibited an entity from registering as a third-party advertiser if someone who is a affiliated with a political party holds a "significant position" on in the entity.
Electoral system Alberta's 87 MLAs are elected through single-member contests by plurality, also known as first past the post.
Incumbents not standing for re-election In the months leading up to the 2023 Alberta general election, several members of the Legislative Assembly announced they would not seek re-election. This included three members of the Smith ministry including leadership contest runner-up Travis Toews (Minister of Finance and president of Treasury Board), Sonya Savage (Minister of Environment and Protected Areas), and Rajan Sawhney (Minister of Trade, Immigration and Multiculturalism). Shortly after Sawhney's decision not to run again, she was nominated by Smith as the United Conservative candidate for Calgary-North West. Other United Conservative members of the Legislative Assembly who decided not to run again included former Ministers in the Kenney ministry: Leela Aheer, Ron Orr, Tracy Allard, and Brad Rutherford; as well as caucus members Mark Smith, Roger Reid, and Richard Gotfried. Dave Hanson, member for Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, lost his nomination contest against former Bonnyville-Cold Lake representative Scott Cyr; and Tany Yao, member for Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, lost his nomination contest to Zulkifl Mujahid, who was subsequently removed by the provincial board and replaced by Yao due to ongoing legal matters.
New Democratic members of the Legislative Assembly deciding not to run in 2023 included members of the Notley ministry, such as Deron Bilous, along with Richard Feehan, as well as caucus member Jon Carson. Chris Nielsen, member for Edmonton-Decore, lost his nomination contest to Sharif Haji. Two independent members of the Legislative Assembly decided not to run in 2023: former New Democrat Thomas Dang, along with former United Conservative Drew Barnes. {| class="wikitable" |+MLAs who did not run again in 2023 |- !colspan="3"|Retiring incumbent !Electoral district !colspan=2|Subsequent party nominee !colspan=2|Elected MLA
|Thomas Dang |Independent |Edmonton-South || |Rhiannon Hoyle || |Rhiannon Hoyle
|Deron Bilous |New Democratic |Edmonton-Beverly-Clareview || |Peggy Wright || |Peggy Wright
|Jon Carson |New Democratic |Edmonton-West Henday || |Brooks Arcand-Paul || |Brooks Arcand-Paul
|Richard Feehan |New Democratic |Edmonton-Rutherford || |Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse || |Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse
|Drew Barnes |Independent |Cypress-Medicine Hat || |Justin Wright || |Justin Wright
|Leela Aheer |United Conservative |Chestermere-Strathmore || |Chantelle de Jonge || |Chantelle de Jonge
|Richard Gotfried |United Conservative |Calgary-Fish Creek || |Myles McDougall || |Myles McDougall
|Ron Orr |United Conservative |Lacombe-Ponoka || |Jennifer Johnson || |Jennifer Johnson
|Pat Rehn |United Conservative |Lesser Slave Lake || |Scott Sinclair || |Scott Sinclair
|Roger Reid |United Conservative |Livingstone-Macleod || |Chelsae Petrovic || |Chelsae Petrovic
|Brad Rutherford |United Conservative |Leduc-Beaumont || |Brandon Lunty || |Brandon Lunty
|Mark Smith |United Conservative |Drayton Valley-Devon || |Andrew Boitchenko || |Andrew Boitchenko
|Sonya Savage |United Conservative |Calgary-North West || |Rajan Sawhney || |Rajan Sawhney
|Rajan Sawhney |United Conservative |Calgary-North East || |Inder Grewal || |Gurinder Brar
|Travis Toews |United Conservative |Grande Prairie-Wapiti || |Ron Wiebe || |Ron Wiebe
|Tracy Allard |United Conservative |Grande Prairie || |Nolan Dyck || |Nolan Dyck
+MLAs that lost nomination racesOutgoing incumbentElectoral districtSubsequent party nomineeElected MLADave HansonUnited ConservativeBonnyville-Cold Lake-St. PaulScott CyrScott CyrChris NielsenNew DemocraticEdmonton-DecoreSharif HajiSharif HajiTany YaoUnited ConservativeFort McMurray-Wood BuffaloTany YaoTany YaoTimeline 2019 April 16: The United Conservative Party (UCP) wins a majority government in the 30th Alberta general election, defeating the previous Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) government which had governed since 2015. No other parties won seats in the election. April 30: Jason Kenney is sworn in as the 18th premier of Alberta. The first UCP cabinet is likewise sworn in. Derek Fildebrandt resigns as leader of the Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta. May 21: Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper is elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. June 30: Stephen Mandel resigns as leader of the Alberta Party. September 4: Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes resigns as leader of the Green Party of Alberta. Will Carnegie is appointed interim leader.
2020 February 10: Former PC MLA Jacquie Fenske is announced as acting leader of the Alberta Party. March 28: Jordan Wilkie is elected leader of the Green Party of Alberta. June 29: Members of Wexit Alberta and the Freedom Conservative Party of Alberta voted to approve a merger into the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta (WIP). July 17: The WIP announced that Paul Hinman would serve as interim leader until the party's founding convention and leadership contest. November 22: Alberta Liberal Party Leader David Khan resigns.
2021 January 4: Six UCP MLAs are demoted by Jason Kenney for travelling internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta. March 6: John Roggeveen is appointed interim leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. April 7: 17 UCP MLAs sign an open letter criticizing the Alberta government for reimposing more stringent public health restrictions aimed at combatting COVID-19. July 13: Paul Hinman is elected leader of the WIP. August 31: Barry Morishita is acclaimed as leader of the Alberta Party. November 15: 22 UCP constituency associations announce they have passed special motions calling for a review of Jason Kenney's leadership by March 1, 2022.
2022 March 24: UCP MLAs Jason Stephan and Peter Guthrie call on Jason Kenney to resign. May 18: Jason Kenney won 51.4% of votes in favour of him staying as leader in a UCP leadership review vote. However, he announced he would resign shortly after the result was revealed. May 19: The UCP caucus meets and decides to keep Jason Kenney as party leader and premier until a successor is chosen. October 6: The results of the 2022 UCP leadership election were announced, with former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith elected leader and therefore the next premier. In her victory speech, she invited former UCP MLA and fellow leadership candidate Todd Loewen back into caucus.