List of premiers of Alberta

The list of premiers of Alberta consists of the 17 leaders of government of the Canadian province of Alberta since it was created in 1905. Three were Liberal, three were United Farmers of Alberta, three were Social Credit and seven were Progressive Conservative. The currently elected and serving premier is New Democratic.

Alberta uses a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The premier is Alberta's head of government, while the Queen of Canada in right of Alberta is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta. The premier picks a cabinet, usually from the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, to form the Executive Council of Alberta, and presides over that body.

Members are elected to the legislature during general elections or by-elections. Barring special legislation occasioned by a war or an emergency (which has never happened in Alberta's history, although it has federally), general elections must be called by the lieutenant governor, at the Premier's advice, no later than five years after the previous election, but the premier may ask (and almost always has asked) for dissolution of the legislative assembly and a subsequent election earlier than that. Under Alberta's fixed-election legislation of 2011, a general election is to be held on a day (by custom, a Monday) between March 1 and May 31 in the 4th calendar year following the most recent general election, but the premier can bindingly advise the lieutenant governor to call an election earlier than the fixed date.

An election may also happen if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature, by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion, but in Alberta's history of massive majorities in the assembly, this has not happened yet in the province's history. (Although Aberhart's first term as Premier was almost cut short, when a large part of his caucus showed willingness to vote against his government's budget. But when he promised to bring in radical banking reform they were satisfied.)

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