In the end, it was not even close. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith received a whopping 91.5% approval rating in her leadership review at the United Conservative Party Annual General Meeting, and 8.5% of members disapproved of her. A total of 4,633 UCP members cast ballots in the leadership review. However, 6,085 people registered to attend the UCP AGM, making it the largest political convention in Canadian history. “I love you,” said Smith in a Saturday speech at the UCP AGM at Westerner Park in Red Deer. “Thank you.” Smith said she was grateful from the bottom of her heart. While she had many thank yous, she started off by thanking the UCP’s executive team, staff, and volunteers for making the AGM seamless.She said she was thankful to UCP AGM Returning Officer Nicholas Milliken for overseeing the leadership review vote, which she joked was done without tabulators. That was why Milliken was able to get the results early. To the outgoing UCP Board members, she said they have done an amazing job in the last year. To the incoming members, she acknowledged she looks forward to working with them. She thanked UCP members for travelling out to Red Deer to participate in the AGM. Additionally, she said it has been amazing. She said attendees “can see and feel the strength of our grassroots party movement from this room.” To UCP members, volunteers, donors, and MLAs, she praised them for the work they have done to grow it and make it stronger. Because of the overwhelming support for her leadership, she said she was humbled and honoured. She added it is the strongest it has ever been. Unlike in past years, she said it is more united than it has ever been. She said it will continue to lead Canada’s economy in creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and opportunities. She vowed it will continue to defend the rights and freedoms of Albertans, parents, and children. Moreover, she said it will continue to defend Alberta from the Canadian government. Smith concluded by saying the UCP “will soundly defeat Naheed Nenshi and the NDP in 2027.” “United, we will not be defeated,” she said. Smith said in August she hopes she gets higher than the 53% of the vote she received in the 2022 Alberta United Conservative Party leadership race in her leadership review in November..Smith says she is confident heading into her leadership review in November.At the moment, she said she feels like she was going to. “I’m going around the province,” she said.
