Edmonton is far friendlier to centre-left parties than the rest of Alberta. It is the current base of the provincial NDP. The NDP scored an upset victory in the 2015 provincial election primarily by taking all of Edmonton, and held all but one Edmonton seat even as they were defeated in 2019. However, Edmonton is still more conservative than most other large cities in Canada. The Conservatives and their predecessors have held most seats here since 1993, although in most cases with smaller pluralities than the astronomical margins in rural Alberta. Edmonton is the only part of Alberta where the federal Liberals have consistently broken through in recent times, having won between two and four seats here from 1993 to 2004, although never by large margins. The Liberals lost all their Edmonton seats in 2006 as the Conservatives took power back. The four seats the Liberals won in 1993 were the first they had won anywhere in Alberta since 1968. In 2008, the Conservative sweep of Alberta was broken by the New Democratic Party in Edmonton-Strathcona. The NDP has held this seat every election since. Besides retaining Edmonton-Strathcona, in 2011 the NDP finished second in all other Edmonton-area ridings except Edmonton-Sherwood Park. The only other time the NDP has won a seat in the region was in 1988 when it won Edmonton East. The safest Tory seats are located in the more suburban ridings outside of the citycore. From 2004 to 2011, their best riding in the region was Edmonton—Spruce Grove—most of which is now Edmonton West. In 2011, for instance, the Conservatives won 71% of the vote there. They also won more than 60% of the vote in Edmonton—St. Albert, Edmonton—Leduc and Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont. Further underlining this, one of the Liberal gains in 2015 was in Edmonton Centre. In 2015, the Liberals took two ridings, the NDP retained Edmonton Strathcona, and the Tories held the remainder. Edmonton reverted to form in 2019, with the Conservatives taking all but Edmonton Strathcona, which remained in NDP hands as the only non-Tory riding in Alberta.
