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It was the political equivalent of a photo bomb.

On Monday, when Alberta’s brand new United Conservative Party held its first media scrum to introduce interim leader Nathan Cooper, there lurking in the background was Alberta Party Leader Greg Clark.

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Clark had come to pick over the scraps left by Saturday’s unification vote between the Wildrose and Progressive Conservatives.

The unity vote may have created a new political party, but it has also generated an exodus of sorts from both old parties.

There are hard-right Wildrosers, upset with the idea of climbing into bed with the hated PCs, who now contemplate starting their own party. Those are not the people who interest a moderate like Clark.

He has his sights set on the “progressive” conservatives, those Red Tories upset with the idea of climbing into bed with the hated Wildrose.

Clark turned up at the scrum because he knew he’d find journalists and microphones there — and his message would fit neatly into the news narrative of the day.