EDMONTON—A former UCP nomination hopeful is expressing disappointment after campaigning in an Edmonton riding before party leadership stepped in and appointed a candidate instead.

In a controversial move last week, the United Conservatives informed those vying for the nod in Edmonton-Meadows that they’d be scrapping the usual nomination race and announcing former Edmonton Eskimos president Len Rhodes as the party’s pick to represent them in the next election.

Lifelong resident Arundeep Singh Sandhu said he’d spent months knocking on doors and signing up party members as a nomination candidate before being informed there would be no race after all.

“Disappointment” was what Sandhu said he felt when he found out just before the announcement Thursday.

“I wanted to have good representation here and the two other gentlemen who were contesting the nomination against me also live here. They are my neighbours. So it was a disappointment on behalf of the thousands of conservatives in this riding who will not get to vote and have a say in who their candidate is.”

Sandhu wouldn’t say what his next step would be, whether he will stay active in the UCP, or how he felt about the party’s move, only that he’ll be listening to friends and family in the community before deciding what to do next.

Read more: Former Edmonton Eskimos president appointed United Conservative candidate

The UCP drew some criticism for the move because of its pledge to keep nominations contested, where party members could vote for who they want to represent them during the election.

However, the party said it had to be able to appoint some leading businesspeople, like Rhodes, who were interested, but couldn’t run in nominations because of prior commitments.

“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,” said UCP president Erika Barootes at the Rhodes announcement.

The party has, for the most part, kept nominations contested across Alberta.

Sandhu has been involved in politics since he was a kid, he told Star Edmonton during an interview on Monday.

He began hitting the streets with his father in the 1990s to put up signs, hand out literature, and volunteer. Sandhu took on various roles with the Progressive Conservatives until 2016, when he made a run for Edmonton city council.

Once that was over, he had the ball in the air for his next political play, which by March 2018 was a bid to run for a spot in the legislature with the UCP during the election this spring.

“We were pretty much flat-out since then,” he said.

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When asked if he’d stay in politics, Sandhu said, “I think, at this point, it’s in our blood.

“We’re going to continue being involved in the community here, like I have been my entire life, like my family has always been, and we’re going to continue doing what we can to make life better for our friends and neighbours, and our community.”

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