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Though the CCF was founded in 1932, the party did not run in Alberta elections until 1940 because of its links with the United Farmers of Alberta. Once the UFA was wiped out in the 1935 provincial election and withdrew from politics, the way was clear for the CCF to run its own candidates provincially. However, the CCF was unable to win the support of the UFA's conservative supporters, or put a dent in the support of Alberta's Social Credit movement.

Though the party received 11% of the vote in 1940, the CCF was unable to win any seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. In 1942, Elmer Roper won an upset victory in a by-election and won the CCF's first seat in the legislature.

In 1945, the CCF received 24% of the vote, but was able to won only 2 seats, due to the dominance of Social Credit. Social Credit received over 50% of ballots cast.

Through the 1940s and 1950s, the CCF's percentage of the vote declined, eventually falling under 10% of the vote, and they were never able to win more than the two seats they managed in 1945. The party was reduced to one or no MLAs through the 1950s.

The CCF merged with the labour movement in 1961, becoming the New Democratic Party of Canada. In Alberta, the NDP was founded in 1962 under the leadership of Neil Reimer who had been national director of the Energy and Chemical Workers Union. The NDP was unable to build on the CCF's provincial base, and, with the exception of a 1966 by-election victory, did not win any seats until 1971 when Grant Notley , who had taken over the party in 1968, was elected to the legislature.

With the election of the Alberta Progressive ConservativesThe Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is a provincial right-of-centre party in the Canadian province of Alberta. The PC party has formed the provincial government, without interruption, since 1971 under the leadership of Peter Lougheed ( 1971- 1985), in 1971, Social Credit gradually collapsed. The Alberta Liberal PartyThe Alberta Liberal Party is a political party in Alberta, Canada. The Liberals formed the government in Alberta for the first 15 years of the province's existence. Alexander C. Rutherford (1905-1910), Arthur L. Sifton (1910-1917) and Charles Stewart (191 suffered due to its links with the federal Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of Canada Current Leader Paul Martin Founded July 1, 1867 (nation's founding) Headquarters Suite 40081 Metcalfe Street Ottawa, OntarioK1P 6M8 Colours Red Political ideology liberal International alignment Liberal International The Liberal Pa government of Pierre TrudeauJoseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( October 18, 1919— September 28, 2000) was the fifteenth Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968, to June 3, 1979, and from March 3, 1980, to June 30, 1984. Born in Montreal, Quebec, Pierre Trudeau was a f, which was very unpopular in Alberta.

The decline of Social Credit and unpopularity of the Liberals gave the New Democrats an opportunity to become the focus of opposition to the LougheedThe Honourable Peter Lougheed PC, CC, QC, MBA, LL. born 1928) is a Canadian lawyer, politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985. He had played football for the Edmonton Eskimos. In 1965, he was elected Tories. Popularity of the NDP gradually increased under leader Grant Notley , who led the party from 1968 until his tragic death in a plane crash in 1984, and was the party's sole MLA until 1982.

In the 1971, the NDP surpassed the 10% barrier, climbing to 18.75% in the 1982 election. The party became the Official OppositionThe Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest opposition party in a Westminster System of parliamentary government. The Leader of the Opposition is invariably seen as the alternative Prime Minister to the present in 1982, though with only two seats.

Notley was leading the NDP to what many thought would be a major breakthrough when he was killed in an airplane crash in 1984This page is about the year 1984. For other uses of 1984, see 1984 (disambiguation). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday (link shows calendar). Events January January 1 Brunei becomes a fully independent state January 1 AT&T is broken up into 22 indepe.

In 1986, under Ray Martin the party, now known as the NDs to distinguish itself from the federal NDP won almost 30% of the vote and 16 seats. This was to be the apex of New Democrat support.

With the departure of Pierre Trudeau from the federal scene, the Alberta Liberals began a revival. The New Democrats were unable to gain any additional seats in the 1989 election. However, though they were still the Official Opposition in the legislature by virtue of having more seats than the Liberals, the NDs' popular support fell behind the Liberals (26% to the Liberal's 28%) for the first time in decades. The Liberals became the focus of renewed interest for those opposing the governing Tories.

With the Liberal Party as the new hope for leading an anti-Tory coalition, support for the New Democrats collapsed. In 1993, their popular vote fell by more than half to 11%, and they lost all their seats in the legislature.

The party was able to regain their foothold in the legislature winning two seats in 1997 and 2001, but have been unable to break the 10% popular vote barrier, or regain their position as Official Opposition.

In 2004 the party reverted to the traditional NDP abbreviation. The current leader of the Alberta NDP is Brian Mason, a former city councillor. He was elected leader in September 2004, while serving as interim leader after the resignation as leader of former professor Raj Pannu. Both represent Edmonton ridings.

In the 2004 Alberta general election the party doubled its seats from two to four, all in the Edmonton area - the re-elected Mason and Pannu, returning former leader Ray Martin, and newcomer David Eggen . The party received 9.7% of the vote province-wide.