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Greg Clark has resigned as Alberta Party leader, a move he says is necessary to build the party for the next provincial election.

Clark — the MLA for Calgary-Elbow — is giving up the leadership at a time the Alberta Party appears to be gaining strength with the addition of another MLA in the legislature and some former Progressive Conservatives joining up following the formation of the United Conservative Party.

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In an interview Friday, Clark said that growth is precisely why he needs to step down now.

“The fact is we’ve grown party quickly and it’s really starting to pick up,” he said.

“But what we need to do to be viable to win in 2019, which I think is so important for this province, is we need to blow the doors wide open on the Alberta Party.

“To mobilize and galvanize the membership to get them really actively engaged right now, there’s really no other way of doing that than a leadership process, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

Clark said he may choose to run in that leadership contest, which he expects to be held in about three months, but has not yet come to a decision.

He said that in any case he will retain his seat in the legislature and plans to run again in the 2019 election.

Clark, who formally resigned as leader earlier this week, brushed off questions on whether there were forces in the party working to sabotage him and push him out of the leadership.

“At the end of the day, it’s my decision to step back and trigger the process,” he said.

Clark was the first and only MLA elected under the Alberta Party banner when he won in Calgary-Elbow in the 2015 provincial election. At the start of the fall legislature sitting last week, he was joined by Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill MLA Karen McPherson, who left the NDP benches in October to sit as an Independent.

McPherson said Clark’s decision “is a great opportunity for us to generate more momentum around the party and to really grow the party.”

“I have told Greg that if he decides to put his hat in the ring, he has my full support,” she said.

With files from Clare Clancy, Postmedia