Danielle Smith says Wildrose ready for election amid Tory turmoil

The leader of Albertas opposition Wildrose Party says her party is ready for an early election.

Danielle Smith told a sold-out fundraiser on Thursday night that her party would be ready to hit the ground running if they were elected topower.

Shesaid the mid-term resignation ofAlison Redfordis just the latest example of how dysfunctional the Progressive Conservative Party has become after 43 years in power.

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• Severance to Redford's political staff questioned

For the second time in about a three-year period, the governing party has forced out a leader who had led their party to re-election with a strong majority, Smith said.

She was unable to make the kind of changes many of us both inside and outside of her party were hoping to see from a leader so dramatically different than her predecessor."

Smith said her party already has a competent and experienced team in place to offer Albertans a new alternative.

The government has fixed election date legislation in place which says the vote must be held in 2016 between March 1 and May 31 but opposition parties say the Tories could break it just as easily as they approved it.

Other parties prepared

Dave Hancock will take over as Albertapremier until a new PC leader is elected.The search is now on for Alison Redford's replacement, but one must be selectedwithin six months of a leader's resignation.

The New Democrats say theyareprepared for an early election call under thenew Tory leader, according to the party's provincial secretaryBrian Stokes.

"Our sense is that as soon as they get a new honeymoon with the new leader or good news polling, that they will probably want to go and that will be sooner (rather) thanlater." said Stokes.

The NDPis ramping up its fundraising efforts andrecruiting candidates for all 87 ridings in the province.

However, Kent Hehr, the Liberal MLA for Calgary-Buffalo, said he does not expect an early election call by the Progressive Conservatives after theleadership race.

Hehr said he expects the government willbreak its own 2011 law on fixed election dates in order to remain in power longer. The last election was held in 2012, but Hehr thinks Albertansmay not return to the polls until 2017.

"They will stay in power as long as they can and I think they will ride out the full five-year mandate," he said.

PC party turmoil

Former Conservative MP Monte Solberg, who attended the Wildrose fundraiser, said turmoil within the Progressive Conservative caucus could spell the end of the partys long grip on power.

If they cant reach outside their current caucus and find someone who will breathe some new life into their party I think theyre in serious trouble, he said.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt says the PC'sfamous talent for reconstructing and re-energizing themselves could still save the party.

But theyve never had this much internal turmoil before. And theyve never faced an opposition as strong as Wildrose before, he said.

Politicalscientist LoriWilliamssays bringing someone in from the outside would be best to help renew the PC party's brand.

"Now the question is can the party heal from the various divisions that have emerged, or erupted, in the past few weeks," she said.

It still remains to be seenwho will throw their names in the ring to replace Redfordand be theface of the party for the next provincialelection.