Alberta Party MLA Greg Clark will not seek party leadership

Calgary-Elbow MLA Greg Clark has decided not to run again for leadership of the Alberta Party.

In an interview with CBC News on Thursday, Clark said he decided his family had to come first. Clark and his wife have two daughters, 10 and 13.

He said one of his girlstalked to him about the leadership during a drive from Calgary to Edmonton.

"She talked to her sister and she said, 'Dad, we don't mind you being MLA,' " Clark recounted. "But we'd really like you not be leader so you could spend more time with us.

"The minute I heard that, that really made my decision for me."

Clark acknowledges that there will be party members who will be disappointed with his decision. He said he still plans to run in Calgary-Elbow in the 2019 election.

Clark was chosen party leader in 2013 and became the party's first elected MLA in 2015.Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson joined the Alberta Party caucus several weeks after leaving the NDP.

Clark stepped down last month to trigger a leadership race. Sources told CBC he was pushed out by the party's board of directors.