Editing David Swann (section)

== Political career ==
Swann entered electoral politics as a candidate for the [[Alberta Liberal Party|Alberta Liberals]]. He was elected to the Alberta Legislature in the [[2004 Alberta general election|Alberta general election]] on 22 November 2004. Along with [[Harry B. Chase]], and [[Dave Taylor (Canadian politician)|Dave Taylor]], Swann was part of a re-emergence of provincial Liberals in Calgary which had been completely held by the [[Alberta Progressive Conservatives|Progressive Conservatives]]. During his first term Swann was environment critic and also served as deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Resources and Environment and as a member of the Private Bills Committee and the Standing Committee on Health.<ref>[https://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_bio&rnumber=18 Assembly.ab.ca]</ref>  Swann was re-elected in the [[2008 Alberta general election|March 3, 2008 election]].

Party leader [[Kevin Taft]] resigned following the election in which the party last almost half of its seats. Swann won the subsequent [[2008 Alberta Liberal Party leadership election|2008 Alberta Liberal leadership election]] on 13 December 2008, defeating [[Dave Taylor (Canadian politician)|Dave Taylor]] and [[Mo Elsalhy]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120728002036/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081213/swann_alberta_081212/20081213?hub=Canada CTV.ca]</ref> During his tenure as leader the party continued to suffer from resignations and internal divisions which contributed to it falling to third place in the polls behind the [[Wildrose Alliance]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://daveberta.ca/2011/01/swanns-song-liberal-leader-david-swann-expected-to-resign/|title = Swann's song: Liberal leader david swann expected to resign. – daveberta.ca – Alberta Politics| date=31 January 2011 }}</ref> On 1 February 2011, he announced his resignation as leader with effect after the spring session of the Legislative Assembly.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/David+Swann+will+step+down+Alberta+Liberal+leader/4204565/story.html |title=David Swann will step down as Alberta Liberal leader |last=Fekete |first=Jason |newspaper=Calgary Herald |date=1 February 2011 |access-date=24 April 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308203857/http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/David+Swann+will+step+down+Alberta+Liberal+leader/4204565/story.html |archive-date=8 March 2011 }}</ref> He resigned without having led the party through a general election; however, four years later, Swann was given the opportunity to lead the party through an election campaign when party leader [[Raj Sherman]] suddenly resigned weeks before the [[2015 Alberta general election|2015 provincial election was called]] and Swann was appointed interim leader. In the course of the campaign, Swann's Liberals faced an unexpected surge by the [[Alberta New Democratic Party]] under its new leader, [[Rachel Notley]], which threatened to cut into Liberal support, as well as a resurgent Wildrose Party which also resulted in pressure on Liberal supporters to [[strategic voting|strategically vote]] for the more moderate Progressive Conservatives in order to block the more right wing [[Wildrose Party]] from forming government.{{fact|date=October 2023}}

The 2015 election resulted in the defeat of the Progressive Conservatives after 44 years in power and the election of the first NDP government in Alberta history. The Liberals under Swann received 4% of the popular vote, less than half their result in the 2012 election. Only Swann retained his seat becoming the sole Liberal MLA elected, down from 5 Liberal seats.<ref>{{cite news|title=Alberta election: NDP wins majority, ending 44 years of PC rule|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/alberta-election-ndp-wins-majority-ending-44-years-of-pc-rule-1.2359035|access-date=5 May 2015|date=5 May 2015}}</ref>