Having unveiled a series of polices intended to repair confidence in the provincial government ­— and rehabilitate the PC party’s tarnished image — Alberta Premier Jim Prentice set his sights Monday on winning a seat in the legislature.

Standing inside the cabin-style Southern Alberta Pioneers Building in southwest Calgary, Prentice announced thousands of Albertans will head to the polls Oct. 27 to vote in four byelections, including three in Calgary and one in Edmonton.

“This is a new government that is changing to better meet the needs and expectations of all Albertans,” Prentice told a throng of reporters and PC loyalists.

Earlier, two more Calgary MLAs announced their resignations, triggering byelection races in Calgary-Foothills and Calgary-West, as well as Calgary-Elbow and Edmonton-Whitemud.

Prentice, a former Calgary MP who does not hold a seat in the Alberta legislature, revealed he would run in Calgary-Foothills, a riding that PC-turned-independent MLA Len Webber vacated Monday to focus on his looming campaign for federal office.

“I’m a north-side guy,” Prentice said, when asked why he decided to run in Calgary-Foothills. “I felt strongly if it was possible from the outset that I would prefer to represent a riding on the north side where I’ve spent my life.”

The stakes are high for Prentice and the long-ruling PC party, which saw Alison Redford resign as premier this spring following a series of scandals that sent the party’s public support plummeting.

But analysts say the byelections are just as important to opposition parties that are desperate to chip away at the PC majority in the legislature before the 2016 general election.

“The Wildrose, which has the most money to throw at this, is going to throw everything they’ve got at it to gain some credibility, momentum and publicity,” said Lori Williams, associate professor of political science at Mount Royal University.

Since becoming PC leader Sept. 6, Prentice has tried to distance himself from the Redford government, promising to sell the fleet of government aircraft, introduce tougher accountability legislation, end entitlements and review rural health care.

But opposition parties dismissed Prentice’s moves as mere window-dressing from a party short on ideas, intent on self-preservation and maintaining power after 43 years in government.

“Don’t forget that all these things we’re hearing now — change, renewal, a new beginning — this is exactly what was rolled out when Redford came onto the scene,” said Bruce McAllister, Wildrose MLA for Chestermere-Rocky View.

“And we all know how that ended, don’t we.”

Redford resigned as MLA in Calgary-Elbow in August, while Dave Hancock — who replaced Redford as premier during the summer — recently stepped aside in Edmonton-Whitemud.

Webber — a former PC cabinet minister who was elected three times in the northwest city riding — announced he would resign as MLA after he captured the federal Conservative nomination for Calgary Confederation on Saturday.

“I need to close the chapter on my time as an MLA today,” Webber said in a statement.

A short time later, Calgary-West MLA Ken Hughes also said he would step down to help with the revival of the PC party under a new leader.

“Nobody can argue with the analysis that the Progressive Conservative party, the caucus, the cabinet and the government have needed renewal,” Hughes said in a statement.