Rachel Notley speaks to supporters at the Sutton Place Hotel in Edmonton on Saturday, October 18, 2014. Notley captured 70 per cent of the vote of party members to become the new leader of Alberta's opposition NDP. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Dean Bennett
Rachel Notley speaks to supporters at the Sutton Place Hotel in Edmonton on Saturday, October 18, 2014. Notley captured 70 per cent of the vote of party members to become the new leader of Alberta’s opposition NDP. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Dean Bennett

UFV political science expert Hamish Telford says the NDP win in Alberta wasn’t as much driven by the NDP itself as it was by leader Rachel Notley.

Telford says Notley embodied hope and optimism in her campaign, and says the federal leaders would do well to follow her example.

“That’s going to be a tough thing for some of the federal leaders to do that. It’s not Stephen Harper’s natural character. Tom Mulcair’s persona is generally a little bit different so he’s going to have to work on it, although seeing him on television he looked very bubbly. But this is a lesson that perhaps plays to Justin Trudeau’s favor. He seems to be the most naturally optimistic of the three federal leaders so maybe he’ll be able to draw inspiration.”

Telford says the victory is a shot in the arm for the NDP across the country after losses in BC and Nova Scotia and ongoing struggles in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

At the same time he says this could also be a silver lining for the federal Conservative party, in that it shows that it can’t afford take anything for granted in the fall election.