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Alberta Politics

Ben Henderson nominated as the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods

City Councillor Ben Henderson has been acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods.

This nomination notice was posted on the Liberal Party of Canada website this evening.
This nomination notice was posted on the Liberal Party of Canada website this evening.

Henderson currently serves as Councillor for Ward 8 and was first elected to City Council in 2007.

“Edmonton Mill Woods deserves strong and effective representation in government, that is why I’m thrilled and honoured to run for the job of serving the community of Mill Woods and the Meadows in Parliament, “ Henderson said in a press statement released on August 10.

“The results of this upcoming coming election are critical to ensuring we recover successfully from COVID-19 and make progress in building a truly prosperous community for ourselves and future generations,” Henderson said.

Before his election to council, Henderson was a Mediator and Negotiator, and before that was a theatre director, working as founding Artistic Director of Nexus Theatre and the Artistic Director of Theatre Network.

Amarjeet Sohi Edmonton Mayor Election 2021
Amarjeet Sohi

Henderson, who is married to former Edmonton-Centre Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman, announced in March 2021 that he would not seek re-election to council in the October elections.

Henderson’s municipal ward does not overlap with the south east Edmonton federal riding, which is likely a recognition by the Liberals that their chances of unseating New Democratic Party MP Heather McPherson in Edmonton-Strathcona, which includes all of Henderson’s Ward 8, are slim to none.

Recruiting a four-term city councillor to run in the federal election is a coup for the federal Liberals in Edmonton. Henderson will bring many years of campaign experience and, likely, a dedicated team and resources to his campaign.

Nathalie Batres, who works as Mayor Don Iveson‘s Senior Media and Communications Advisor, is listed as the media contact in Henderson’s press release.

Tim Uppal
Tim Uppal

Henderson’s candidacy will also likely mean that Conservative Party MP Tim Uppal will be forced to spend more time campaigning inside his riding than if he faced a lesser known Liberal candidate.

Edmonton-Mill Woods was represented by Liberal MP and former city Councillor Amarjeet Sohi from 2015 until his defeat to Uppal in 2019. Sohi is now running for Mayor of Edmonton.

The area was previously represented by Conservative MP Mike Lake from 2006 to 2015 (Lake now represents the neighbouring Edmonton-Wetaskiwin) and Progressive Conservative-turned-Liberal MP David Kilgour from 1979 to 2006.

Also nominated by the Liberal Party today is Shahnaz Jabeen in Calgary-Rocky Ridge.


I am building a list of candidates seeking party nominations to run as candidates in Alberta in the next federal election. If you have any additions to the list, please comment below or email me at david.cournoyer@gmail.com. Thank you.

5 replies on “Ben Henderson nominated as the Liberal candidate in Edmonton-Mill Woods”

Millwoods is tired of politicians that have no connection to our neighborhoods wanting to be elected here.

Tim Uppal lives across the country! Enuff already.

Here’s hoping the other parties nominate some actual locals for a change. I won’t vote for Ben Henderson, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him here. The kind kf stuff he voted for on Council only hurt us out here

“strong and effective representation”, I had to check twice to see if Ben Henderson actually said that. Millwoods, you will not get that from this carpet bagger.

Thanks for another great article, Dave.

I think Mr. Henderson would make a great MP; if I lived in Millwoods I would certainly vote for him.

I am glad he is not running in Edmonton Strathcona. As a resident of that riding I would have a difficult decision.

Running a high profile candidate in Millwoods rather than Strathcona is a good strategy. It is easy to see how Mr. Henderson would split the progressive vote and a Conservative could take the riding, while a weaker Liberal candidate would also fail to unseat Tim Uppal. This way Ben Henderson could take Millwoods, and an ND MP in Strathcona could still support a minority government if it came to that.

Ben Henderson was excellent on Edmonton city council and has the right values, work ethic and knowledge to be a fine MP. Uppal doesn’t live in the riding and doesn’t represent our values.

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