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“Sometimes they may have political viewpoints that differ from the direction of the party and for that reason they feel they can no longer serve on the board,” he said. “I think we need to respect that.”

Former board president Maureen Moncrieff was quoted by High River Online on Friday stating she has “not been happy with the UCP party as a whole,” that the party is “too top down” and that she is disappointed there is “no grassroots in the UCP.”

Postmedia requested comment from Moncrieff on Saturday but did not receive a response.

At a news conference in Edmonton, UCP MLA Jason Nixon said some people become frustrated when their candidate loses a nomination process.

“The best I can tell, that’s what’s taken place down there,” he said Saturday. “I’m sorry to hear that people are frustrated and don’t want to continue with the process but, in general, I don’t think it speaks to the general direction the United Conservative Party is going, which is growing and focused on defeating the NDP.”

Nixon also defended the “grassroots guarantee” that was pledged by Jason Kenney during the UCP leadership campaign. Nixon said “there’s nothing more grassroots” than holding nomination votes for candidates.

Vandenhoek said it’s “a little early in the game” to say the UCP is not a grassroots party.

“It’s a relatively new party,” he said. “It’s been formed within a very short time and I think they’ve done the best they can to be as grassroots as possible.”

He said the board will hold a meeting soon to fill the empty positions and prepare for the upcoming election.

Reid said the constituency association has a board consisting of 30 positions.

“The majority of the board’s still in place,” he said.

— With files from Paige Parsons