Wildrose plummets, Tories surge in Alberta

With Premier Ed Stelmach out of the way and a leadership contest stealing the spotlight, the Alberta Tories are dominating the polls once again.

And that means the Wildrose Party has been pushed aside in a dramatic change of fortunes for a party that had been challenging the PC stranglehold on the province since the end of 2009. 

In a new poll by Environics Research, the Progressive Conservatives stand at 54 per cent support in Alberta, enough to give them another huge majority government and extend the uninterrupted lifespan of their time in power, which began 40 years ago.

Wildrose placed second with 16 per cent support, down 10 points since Environics’s last poll conducted in January. The Tories, meanwhile, are up 16 points since then.

You can read the rest of the article on The Huffington Post website here.

Prior to this poll, I would have thought that the next leader of the Progressive Conservatives would take his or her time to solidify support before taking on the Wildrose Party. Now I'm wondering if we're going to have a sixth election in the fall. The next Tory leader might want a mandate of his or her own.

From a personal standpoint, I'd prefer if Alberta waited until 2012. As the schedule is shaping up right now, only Quebec is likely to have an election next year so there's plenty of room to squeeze in a second.

The monthly provincial poll chart in the right-hand column has been updated to include this Environics poll.