Alberta Election 2015: Voters pick Wildrose Party as Official Opposition

The Wildrose Party will be Alberta's next Official Opposition. 

It's familiar territory for the party. Wildrose held the title when the PCs were in power and was seen as a relatively large and effective opposition party until 11 MLAs crossed the floor last year to join the governing PCs.

But this time, the Wildrose MLAs will be facing a majority NDP government in the Alberta Legislature.

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean has been elected in Fort McMurray-Conklin. A former Conservative MP, Jean took over the party just as the election was called in April.

• RECAP | Find out how Albertans reacted to the election
•  For individual riding results visit the Alberta Votes interactive dashboard
• Alberta election 2015: The real race is for 2nd place

Before the 2012 election, the Liberal Party spent two decades as the Opposition.

In 1982, the NDP became the Official Opposition for the first time under the late Grant Notley's leadership. His daughter Rachel Notley is the current leader of the party.

The Social Credit held the title between 1971-1982.

The last time a leader of an Official Opposition became premier in Alberta was in 1971. PC Peter Lougheed was the leader of the Official Opposition from 1967 to 1971.