The Personalization of Alberta Party Politics

Naheed Nenshi’s landslide win in the Alberta NDP leadership race marks the beginning of a new era for that party. Way back in February, before Nenshi had even announced he was running, I argued that if he entered the race, he was initiating a merger between the Alberta NDP and his own urban progressive movement. Four months later, I’ll stick with that analysis.

Looking at both the Smith government one year in and the NDP leadership race, I’m struck by the symmetry on the right and left. What we see in Alberta is two charismatic leaders who have each mobilized their own base of support to capture a party’s leadership and then remake that party in their own image.

One of the significant trends in democratic politics, in Canada and elsewhere in the world, is the “personalization” of politics. Over time, party leaders have come to matter more, at the expense of the party they lead. In a personalized system, it’s the leader, not the party label, that matters most to voters. Party (or government) policy reflects the leader’s preferences, not bargains struck among different interests within the party.

Danielle Smith harnessed the rage of those who opposed the Kenney government’s pandemic measures to support her bid for UCP leader. During last year’s provincial election, she reassured voters that once she was elected, she “vowed to put those dark days [of the pandemic] behind all of us.” A year later, the evidence is accumulating that those Albertans who were mobilized into the party by their opposition to vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions still occupy a lot of real estate in the UCP’s big tent. The “injection of truth” event last week was advertised on the UCP’s webpage and hosted by one of its constituency associations.

Smith faced a significant challenge winning over the UCP caucus, most of whom had supported other leadership candidates. Since becoming party leader, she has had to walk a careful line between the promises she has made to the supporters who helped her win the leadership and the views of moderates in caucus/cabinet. After winning re-election, though, she has largely been able to chart her own path with relatively little resistance from caucus. The UCP is Smith’s party now.

By mobilizing tens of thousands of new members into the NDP, Naheed Nenshi has achieved a more decisive takeover of the party than Smith did of the UCP. Even so, he faces a challenge similar to Smith’s: he now has to bring together the interests of his supporters and the party caucus, many of whom supported other contenders for the leadership. Nenshi’s supporters aren’t likely to give him the headaches that Smith’s have given her. They don’t have a policy agenda they’re pursuing. All they want is for Nenshi to win the 2027 election and oust the UCP.

Caucus may be more of a challenge, as many of its members are experienced politicians who remain committed to a more traditional New Democrat worldview and may be suspicious of Nenshi’s non-partisan ‘purple’ approach to policy. But at the end of the day, caucus shares one important value with the new party members: they want to win in 2027. The feat that Nenshi pulled off in mobilizing tens of thousands of new party members into his personalized ‘movement’ gives him a credibility within the party. The Alberta NDP is Nenshi’s party now.

Personalized politics isn’t new in Alberta. If we look back through Alberta’s political history, we can see party leaders personifying their party and imposing their preferences as party policy: Aberhart, Manning, Lougheed and Klein were all party leaders in this tradition. What’s new and different today is the dynamic of two highly competitive personalized parties clashing with one another, offering contrasting visions of what the province is and could be. Strap in for three and a half years of lively personalized politics!