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Prentice, the former federal Conservative cabinet minister, initially appeared to be the party’s’ saviour.

He handily won the PC leadership over two rivals and stormed into power a year ago, making an announcement a day for the first 10 days to right all the wrongs attributed to the controversial and hugely unpopular Alison Redford regime.

But taking Albertans to a general election a year before the fixed election date and campaigning on an unpopular budget proved to be his downfall.

Cusanelli said there was more to it than that, however.

The former educator, who was briefly in Redford’s cabinet, said choosing a new leader wasn’t enough to invigorate the party, particularly one being torn apart by infighting.

“When you have voices from within that are trying to harm one another’s campaigns, no leader, no matter how good they are, is going to be able to surmount that kind of challenge,” she said.

“I look back and we were burned down to the ground. It remains to be seen if we can be revitalized.”

But Brown, who had offered to give up his seat to let Prentice run in his riding in a fall byelection, said he was “extremely disappointed” that Prentice quit politics immediately after winning his seat in Calgary-Foothills but losing the government in the May 5 general election.

“It is one thing to accept responsibility as the leader and to indicate you are prepared to step down and allow someone else to take over the reins, but it’s quite another to abandon your party and your constituents at the moment you have just been elected,” he said.