The press conference will begin after Smith takes the constitutional oath as the nineteenth Premier of Alberta at 11 a.m. in a ceremony expected to be broadcast live, followed by Smith’s first cabinet meeting at the head of the provincial government. Danielle Smith will take questions from journalists for the first time as Alberta Premier on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Smith received 54 percent of the votes in the party leadership race in the final round of preferential balloting. She will need to start uniting the long-divided United Conservative Party caucus and appeal to a broad swath of Alberta voters ahead of the May general election.

On Friday, Smith anticipated a united front among UCP MLAs, outlining plans to meet with each of them to chart a constructive path forward. Meanwhile, the incoming premier will need a seat in the legislature.

She has announced she will call a by-election to try to win a seat in Brooks-Medicine Hat following MLA Michaela Frey’s resignation, noting the need for rural representation in government. However, she said she would leave the Calgary-Elbow seat vacant until the scheduled general election in May, a decision that has sparked questions and criticism from the opposition New Democratic Party and many political observers, who argued that the people of Calgary-Elbow deserve an elected voice in the legislature.

Smith said she would focus on caucus unity, and as of Friday, independent MLA Todd Loewen – who also ran for UCP leadership – returned to the fold. Loewen joined a group photo outside Calgary’s MacDougall Centre after the meeting, along with most of the caucus members.

But Premier Jason Kenney did not. Smith is expected to announce her new government on October 21, the same day the party’s annual general meeting begins.

She said she would keep “many” of Kenney’s government ministers in place. During her leadership campaign, she publicly received support from more than a handful of UCP MLAs, including Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Mike Ellis, Labour Minister Kaycee Madu, MLAs Pat Rehn, Devin Dreeshen, Devinder Toor, Peter Guthrie, and Nathan Neudorf. Alberta Service Minister Nate Glubish also supported Smith after backing former Finance Minister Travis Toews for the leadership, and MLA Angela Pitt left competitor Rajan Sawhney’s campaign to pressure for Smith.

Edited by: Yousra Bamtarf