Bizarre Spin: Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman Runs for UCP Leadership, Doesn't Make Cut

Former Alberta Liberal party leader Raj Sherman has lost his chance to run for leadership of the United Conservative Party.

“Mr. Sherman missed a few of the requirements, including the need to have had a membership for at least six months and provide 1,000 signatures from party members,” explained Dave Prisco, spokesperson for the UCP.

Sherman wrote on Twitter he had “just submitted $125,000 and signatures in the nick of time at 4:55 p.m… Let’s cross our fingers.”

Sherman is an emergency room physician working in Edmonton. He said in June that his experience working in the health system drove him to re-enter politics.

He had been elected leader of the Alberta Liberal Party in 2011. He crossed the floor from the then-Progressive Conservative Party after criticizing then-premier Ed Stelmach, members of cabinet and Alberta Health Services for their management of health-care delivery in the province.

He said the UCP can’t be truly united until “Edmonton conservatives come back into the fold.”