Even though he secured support from 77.4 per cent of Progressive Conservative members in a leadership review Saturday, one political expert says Premier Ed Stelmach may need to make a cabinet shuffle if he wants to keep that support.
Of the almost 1,200 Tory delegates who voted in the mandatory leadership review Saturday 77.4 per cent offered their support to Stelmach.
Delegates were asked whether there should be a leadership review and 922 voted 'no' and the remaining 269 voted 'yes.'
Following the announcement of the leadership review results in Red Deer Saturday night, Stelmach did hint at possible changes to come, but he didn't say what those changes might be.
"Changes are coming, but they will be done in due course on my timeline," said Stelmach.
However, one political analyst says those changes must be drastic if Stelmach wants to retain support from his party and voters.
"He needs to assess the performance of his cabinet and maybe do some fine tuning," said Grant MacEwan University political analyst Chaldeans Mensah. "The worst thing he can do is to interpret the vote as an endorsement of all his policies."
Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann, says while Premier Stelmach has been given a new lease on life, he still must deal with a number of issues, including a $7 billion deficit, controversial health reforms and a highly criticized H1N1 vaccination program.
"[It's] hard to tell how long its going to last, but this is clearly a prescription for breakup in the Tory party," said Swann.
Stelmach is also promising changes when it comes to his communication style, saying he'll do a better job of communication his policies to voters, but some long-time Tory supporters say the promises might not be enough.
"I'm not happy with the direction they're going and the decisions they're making so I'm sitting on the fence and I'm ready to jump ship," said Tory supporter Muffy Knox.
With files from Scott Roberts
