Alberta Premier Jason Kenney remains in office for the time being.
Updated yesterday at 8:15 p.m.
United Conservative Party caucus chairman Nathan Neudorf said members had decided Mr Kenney should stay on until a new leader was chosen.
Mr Kenney announced on Wednesday that he would step down for the good of the party.
In a ‘vote of confidence’ in his leadership on Wednesday night, Kenney garnered 51.4% support — a simple majority that’s enough to keep him in office, according to the United Conservative Party’s bylaws. from Alberta. But he said that was not the result he was hoping for and that, for him, it was insufficient to continue leading the party.
Mr. Neudorf said the timing of a leadership vote was not yet determined.
Mr. Kenney did not speak to reporters after the caucus meeting in Calgary on Thursday. But he tweeted his resignation letter to the United Conservative Party, which says he will step down once a new leader is elected.
Neudorf said the caucus had “vigorous discussion and debate about the future of our party and our government.”
“We have agreed that we must remain united, focused on the best interests of Albertans and determined to do the job Albertans elected us to do,” he said in a statement Thursday.
“With that in mind, we affirmed Premier Jason Kenney’s continued leadership over our caucus and our government until a new leader is chosen,” he added.
Some of Mr Kenney’s critics in the caucus had called on him to step down immediately to help heal the divisions plaguing the party.
Mr Kenney had not provided details of his future. Some media even maintained that Mr. Kenney had not ruled out participating in this next leadership race.
Mr Kenney’s chief critic in the Conservative caucus, Brian Jean, told reporters before the meeting on Thursday that the leader must leave immediately and an interim prime minister must be chosen, so that the Conservative Party united can heal its divisions and move forward.
Mr Jean is one of two former Wildrose party leaders who have already signaled their intention to run for leadership. The Wildrose party had merged in 2017 with the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta to form the United Conservative Party. In April 2019, this right-wing union ousted Rachel Notley’s New Democrats from power.
Brian Jean had lost to Mr Kenney in the first-ever United Conservative Party leadership race.
His predecessor as Wildrose leader, Danielle Smith, a radio host after her stint in provincial politics, said Wednesday night’s results show the party is hungry for a leader who will fight for Alberta’s interests.
The announcement of Mr. Kenney’s resignation reverberated Thursday to Ottawa, where he was once a minister in Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. Before a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Mr. Kenney for his years of public service. “I wish him the best in all the next steps he takes. »