EDMONTON—Recently at the helm of a professional football club, Len Rhodes will now enter the arena of politics for the United Conservative Party team.

The UCP has appointed the former Edmonton Eskimos president as its candidate in the riding of Edmonton-Meadows in the upcoming election.

“Throughout my time here, I’ve actively sought out ways to give back to the community that’s been giving so much back to me and taking this leap into public service seems like a logical next step for me,” Rhodes said at the announcement on Thursday.

Rhodes left the Edmonton team on Feb. 20 after an announcement earlier in the month that he wouldn’t be seeking another term as the CFL club’s CEO and president.

He had a 68-58 record with the team and was leading the organization when they won the Grey Cup in 2015.

Jason Kenney, leader of the UCP, said Rhodes is one of Edmonton’s “top business leaders” and has extensive connections across Canada and the world.

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“We believe it is in the best interests of Edmonton-Meadows, and of Edmonton, to have a candidate of his tremendous calibre carry the Conservative banner in the next election,” Kenney said.

Joel Mullan, who was a nomination candidate for the UCP in the riding Rhodes now represents, was informed Wednesday of the decision. He also attended the announcement at the UCP’s downtown headquarters in Edmonton and Kenney said the nomination candidates in the riding had expressed their support for the decision.

While not the official nominee for the riding, Mullan posted a statement on his Facebook page saying his campaign had knocked on more than 11,000 doors in the hopes he could run in the next election.

“Thank you again for all your help and encouragement and I ask you (to) please offer the same support to the appointed candidate as you have given to me,” he wrote.

Also campaigning for the nomination were Sant Sharma and Arundeep Sandhu.

Kenney was asked about the optics of the move, since he has previously said the party would be about the grassroots members and have open nomination contests. The UCP has had dozens of contested nominations, but Kenney said the party gave him leeway to appoint up to four nominees as well.

“I’ve been clear for over two years that the UCP nomination, in some constituencies, would be delayed until February or March of this year in order to accommodate high-profile candidates who would not be able to leave their professional duties earlier. This is exactly the case with Len Rhodes,” Kenney said.

If members feel slighted by the move, UCP president Erika Barootes said at the announcement, they can contact the party executive to raise their concerns.

“Grassroots is two-way communication,” she said. “So should we have any members that feel that they want to be heard or that they want to be listened to ... part of the role as president is to reach out to those members and give them that opportunity to either speak to the board or the party about how they feel.”

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In the past, Rhodes has been outspoken about issues around domestic violence, prostate cancer, and amateur sport. But the big reason he wanted to run for the UCP came down to the economic situation in the province, Rhodes said.

“I believe in an economy that’s thriving, where a party is pro-business, where we want to make things happen, where we don’t put barriers up — we actually remove them,” he said.

With files from The Canadian Press.

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