Danielle Smith

The Honourable Danielle Smith ECA MLA
Smith in 2014
19th Premier of Alberta
Incumbent
Assumed office October 11, 2022
Monarch	Charles III
Lieutenant Governor	Salma Lakhani
Deputy	Kaycee Madu Nathan Neudorf Mike Ellis
Preceded by	Jason Kenney
Leader of the United Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office October 6, 2022
Preceded by	Jason Kenney
Leader of the Opposition in Alberta
In office April 24, 2012 – December 17, 2014
Premier	Alison Redford Dave Hancock Jim Prentice
Deputy	Rob Anderson
Preceded by	Raj Sherman
Succeeded by	Heather Forsyth
Leader of the Wildrose Party
In office October 17, 2009 – December 17, 2014
Deputy	Rob Anderson
Preceded by	Paul Hinman
Succeeded by	Heather Forsyth (interim)
Parliamentary constituencies Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta Incumbent Assumed office November 8, 2022 Preceded by Michaela Frey Constituency Brooks-Medicine Hat In office April 23, 2012 – May 5, 2015 Preceded by George Groeneveld Succeeded by Wayne Anderson Constituency Highwood
Personal details
Born	Marlaina Danielle Smith (1971-04-01) April 1, 1971 (age 53) Calgary, Alberta, Canada[1]
Political party	United Conservative (since 2017)
Other political affiliations	Progressive Conservative (1998–2009; 2014–2017) Wildrose (2009–2014)
Spouses	Sean McKinsley ​ (divorced)​ David Moretta ​ (m. 2006)​ [2]
Residence(s)	High River, Alberta, Canada
Alma mater	University of Calgary
Occupation	Politician journalist
Website	www.daniellesmith.ca

Marlaina Danielle Smith ECA MLA (born April 1, 1971) is a Canadian politician, former lobbyist, and former columnist and media personality who has been serving as the 19th premier of Alberta and leader of the United Conservative Party (UCP) since October 2022.

Smith attended the University of Calgary and earned degrees in English and economics. After briefly serving as a trustee for the Calgary Board of Education, she worked as a journalist in print, radio and television, during which she shared opinions on politics and healthcare. During this time she also worked as the director of provincial affairs for Alberta with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. She entered provincial politics in 2009, becoming the leader of the Wildrose Party. Smith contributed to the growth of the party, which formed the Official Opposition after the 2012 election. Smith won a seat in the Legislative Assembly for Highwood in that election, and served as leader of the Opposition until 2014, when she resigned to join the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs). Smith was defeated in her bid for the PC nomination in Highwood for the 2015 election.

Between 2015 and 2022, Smith worked in talk radio and served as the president of the Alberta Enterprise Group. Upon Premier Jason Kenney's resignation announcement on May 18, 2022, Smith announced her campaign in the United Conservative Party leadership election. On October 6, Smith won the leadership on the sixth count. She was sworn in as premier on October 11 and became MLA for Brooks-Medicine Hat on November 8, 2022. She led the UCP to re-election as a majority government in the 2023 general election.

Smith's policies have primarily focused on extending Albertan provincial autonomy. In 2022, her government passed the Alberta Sovereignty Act, which seeks to protect Alberta from federal policies it deems are detrimental to the province. Smith's government has also began the process of withdrawing Alberta from the Canada Pension Plan to create a pension plan exclusive to the province's residents.