Wildrose Party

The Wildrose Party (registered as Wildrose Alliance Party, and legally Wildrose Alliance Political Association) is a conservative provincial political party in Alberta, Canada. The party was formed out of the Alberta Alliance Party in early 2008 following its merger with the unregistered Wildrose Party of Alberta. The wild rose is Alberta's provincial flower.

It contested the 2008 provincial election under the Wildrose Alliance banner, and was able to capture seven percent of the popular vote but failed to hold its single seat in the Legislative Assembly. Support for the party rose sharply in 2009 as voters grew increasingly frustrated with the Progressive Conservative (PC) government and a cooling economy, resulting in a surprise win by outgoing leader Paul Hinman in an October by-election. The party's popularity continued to rise when in the fall of 2009 Danielle Smith won election as leader. By December 2009, the Wildrose Alliance was leading provincial opinion polls with 39 percent support, 14 points ahead of both the governing PCs and the opposition Liberals. Wildrose's caucus grew to four members in 2010, after two former PC members of the Legislative Assembly defected in January and an independent MLA joined the party in June of that year.

In the 2012 election, while the party failed to have the breakthrough predicted by most media pundits (many predicted it would become the government), it did increase its vote and seat totals and become the official opposition.