Commentary 
It took over 10 years, a term as the leader of Alberta’s official opposition, a politically disastrous floor-crossing, and a long time in the political wilderness, but Danielle Smith has finally achieved her goal of becoming Alberta’s premier.
Smith’s work is far from done and she still has a tough and bumpy road ahead of her. The United Conservative Party (UCP) has some serious internal rifts, Smith has some big and difficult promises to fulfill, and she is facing what is sure to be a hard-fought general election in seven months.
While her party has the word “united” right in its name, it is anything but. The UCP is the result of an amalgamation between the Progressive Conservative (PC) and Wildrose Parties under Jason Kenney that happened only five years ago. Political rivals on the right sheathed their swords and created a united front to defeat the NDP government in Alberta’s 2019 general election. The political rivalries didn’t end with the merger, however, and they fostered the internal party division that eventually led to the ouster of party leader Jason Kenney. Those party factions are still in play today, and Smith is going to have to get them under control or the party could fracture again….