Losing Calgary was the plan Smith shared with Rick Bell months before the 2023 election
Danielle Smith has never been interested in building a big tent political party.
It was October 2022 when Smith landed in hot water with United Conservative Party MLAs from Calgary when she told Postmedia columnist Rick Bell that she would be okay with her party losing half its seats in that city.
Fast forward seven months and that’s what happened when Smith’s UCP were re-elected on May 29, 2023.