Former Calgary Mayor Nenshi Wins Alberta NDP Leadership Race

Former Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley (L) congratulates Naheed Nenshi after he was named as the new leader of the Alberta NDP in Calgary, on June 22, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh)

Former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has won the Alberta NDP leadership race, gaining 86 percent of the votes on the first ballot.

Mr. Nenshi won 62,746 of the total 72,930 ballots, beating NDP MLAs Kathleen Ganley, Sarah Hoffman, and Jodi Calahoo Stonehouse for the post.

“Today, we start the beginning of a new chapter,” Mr. Nenshi said during his speech following the announcement.

“Let’s dream of a better Alberta for everyone,” he said, adding the party needed to pull together for a 2027 election win.

“It will not be easy. It will not be easy at all. We are going against a well-funded, a well-oiled political machine on the other side.”

Premier Danielle Smith, who is the leader of the rival UCP, congratulated Mr. Nenshi on his win.

“Congratulations [Neheed Nenshi] on your victory,” she said in the June 22 post on X. “Serving as opposition leader is a great honour and I look forward to the dialogue we will have on how best to serve Albertans.”

Ms. Ganley, a former minister of justice in the Notley government, came in second in the race with 8 percent of the votes, while Ms. Hoffman, former deputy premier under the Notley government, was third with 4 percent, and Ms. Stonehouse, a rookie MLA, was fourth with 2 percent.

The leadership race was held after Rachel Notley, who had led the NDP to victory in 2015, announced she’s stepping down as leader in January, following the UCP’s election win in 2023. This marked her second consecutive loss as leader, after Jason Kenney’s UCP won the 2019 election following the merger of the Progressive Conservatives and the Wildrose Party.

Following the 2023 election, the UCP won 49 seats, forming another majority government, while the NDP got 38 seats, making the party the largest Opposition in the province’s history.

Three-Term Mayor

Mr. Nenshi, 52, was the mayor of Calgary from 2010 to 2021, serving for three terms, before deciding not to contest the 2021 election.

A child of Ismaili Muslim immigrants from Tanzania, Toronto-born Mr. Nenshi is a graduate of the University of Calgary and Harvard, and was a business professor at Calgary’s Mount Royal University and a management consultant before entering politics.

He is the first from Calgary to lead the NDP.

Membership in the NDP ahead of the leadership race ballooned once Mr. Nenshi joined the contest, jumping from 16,224 in December to more than 85,000 prior to the vote.

Mr. Nenshi’s political brand during his mayorship was purple—neither Conservative blue, nor Liberal red.

He currently doesn’t hold a seat in the Alberta legislature.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.