Alberta United Conservative Party candidate John Middleton-Hope (Lethbridge-West) said he has dedicated to his life to public service and is hoping to build on it should he win the byelection on Wednesday. Because of his experience in public service, Middleton-Hope said he feels he can be an effective representative. “I’ve got the electability, I’ve got the experience, I’ve got the expertise, and at this stage of the game, I still have the energy,” said Middleton-Hope in an interview. “So I want to do this while I still have it.” He used to work as the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS) chief, where he had to deal with the public safety minister, other police chiefs, city council, and the police commission. As a police chief, he said he gained significant experience in those areas. He added this role prepared him to be a public figure, as he was expected to go to events and speak on behalf of the LPS. He has served as a Lethbridge city councillor since 2021. Up until he took an unpaid leave of absence from Lethbridge city council, he said he has done more functions than many of the other councillors combined. Since he is committed to listening to people, he started Coffee with Council events to meet with various groups. When he left, he had done 43 events. Since the campaign kicked off, he said his strategy has been hard work. To show hard work, he said his campaign team has hit tens of thousands of doors, which has been a stark contrast to his competitors. The candidate went on to say he would advocate for the rural medical program at the University of Lethbridge to improve healthcare should he win. Along with the similar program at Northwest Polytechnic, he said it will bring the number of doctors produced in Alberta to 360 per year. To address the affordability crisis, he said he would look at ways to reduce costs for seniors. He touted the Alberta government eliminating access fees for public addiction treatment facilities as helping seniors, as they could fall into addiction from the loneliness they can experience. Middleton-Hope continued by saying he supports the Alberta Bill of Rights Amendment Act because it outlines the rights Albertans should expect to have. He applauded Alberta Premier Danielle Smith for making this clear. While Smith delayed the byelection until Wednesday, he said he was ready at any time. All the delay did was reaffirm the UCP’s base. He said he would not have run for the UCP unless he had a strong game plan, a committed campaign team, and thought he could win the byelection. While he had contemplated running before, he noted it was not the right time. Middleton-Hope concluded by saying it is important to turn Lethbridge-West blue again. “We have heard from literally thousands of people that they want Lethbridge-West to have adequate representation,” he said. The Lethbridge-West byelection will be held on Wednesday. The other candidates in the race are Alberta NDP candidate Rob Miyashiro and Alberta Party candidate Layton Veverka. The Alberta UCP confirmed in September Middleton-Hope won the race to become the candidate for the Lethbridge-West byelection. .Alberta UCP selects Lethbridge city councillor as Lethbridge-West byelection candidate .“With 29 years in law enforcement, time as a police chief, and service on Lethbridge City Council, he has the experience to deliver real results for Lethbridge-West,” said the UCP.