Danielle Smith is now Alberta’s premier-designate and the new United Conservative Party leader after winning a majority vote on the 6th and final ballot.
Smith now replaces former Premier Jason Kenney, who announced in May that he would be stepping down as UCP leader after receiving 51.4 per cent support in a leadership review.
She will now have to run in a byelection for Doug Schweitzer’s former riding of Calgary-Elbow as she currently doesn’t hold a seat in the legislature.
According to UCP President Cynthia Moore, ballots had been sent out to a little over 120,000 party members, and out of that, nearly 85,000 ballots were cast in the leadership race.
Smith will be officially sworn in at a later date to become the 19th premier of Alberta.