Progressive Tories ready to gear up for election, says Guthrie

By Lethbridge Herald on December 23, 2025.

Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Alberta Party has been rebranded with a new name, the Progressive Tory Party, after battling with the UCP over naming rights for the last six months. 

Peter Guthrie, MLA for Airdrie-Cochrane and leader of the Progressive Tory Party, says the journey to get here was a long hard battle. After being ousted by the UCP caucus in April, Guthrie sat in the Legislature as an independent up until a few weeks ago, when he was named the leader of the Alberta Party. 

The Alberta Party approached Guthrie after he received a cease and desist from the UCP for trying to obtain the Progressive Conservative name for a new political party. 

The Alberta Party was looking to change the direction of their own party and had a 94 per cent vote in favour of changing their name to the Alberta Progressive Conservative party. 

Within two weeks of the Alberta Party submitting their application at the end of August, the UCP filed a complaint with Elections Alberta, which later turned into a litigation and then into a court injunction and finally Bill 14 was passed which legislated the name Conservative along with other distinct names. 

While the party was unable to use the name “conservative,” the legislation didn’t include synonyms or nicknames, so they settled on the Progressive Tory Party, which was approved by Elections Alberta within a week. 

Guthrie says the party is working on getting up and running as quickly as possible, especially with rumours circulating about an election being called in the spring. “There’s a lot to be done and we have to act as though there is going to be an election (come spring).” 

Guthrie says the current actions of the UCP aren’t what the majority of what Albertans believe in, which will give the Tories an advantage in the next election. 

“We currently have a UCP government that is no longer united,” he says. “They’re one that has taken a path that Albertans don’t support.” 

While the Progressive Tory Party is currently working on an official platform, Guthrie says some of their core values include fiscal responsibility; accountability and transparency; limited government; Alberta staying as part of Canada; and social responsibility. 

Along with their core values, Guthrie adds that it’s crucial to work with experts to guide policy if they want to attract voters in the next election.