Although the Wildrose Party led opinion polls for much of the campaign, on election night the Progressive Conservatives defied expectations to win 61 seats – a net loss of only five – en route to their 12th consecutive majority government.

[8] The 27th Alberta Legislature saw a significant decline in the polls for the governing Progressive Conservatives (PCs) and the popularity of Premier Ed Stelmach.

The Liberals lost two MLAs during the 27th Legislature — Dave Taylor (Calgary Currie) who left to sit as an independent, before becoming the first MLA for the Alberta Party; and Bridget Pastoor (Lethbridge-East) who crossed the floor to join the PC caucus in November 2011.

However, the Liberals gained one MLA in selecting Raj Sherman (Edmonton-Meadowlark) as their leader in September 2011, who had been ejected from the PC caucus in November 2010.

On January 25, 2011, Ed Stelmach abruptly announced that he would not seek re-election, and would resign as leader of the Progressive Conservatives and as premier after a successor was chosen.

Alison Redford was chosen as Stelmach's successor on October 1, 2011, and following her election the PCs improved their results in opinion polls.

Her new government presented six pieces of legislation, the most notable of which regarded fixed election dates, an investigation into health care, and tougher penalties for impaired driving.

It was a net increase of thirteen seats for the party, although two of the four Wildrose incumbents (Guy Boutilier and Paul Hinman) were defeated by their PC challengers.

The party polled more than 34 percent of the popular vote, more than five times their share in the previous election, and finished a close second in dozens of constituencies.

The result therefore appeared to give credence to speculation that Liberal voters from last election voted "strategically" for moderate PC candidates to defeat the more conservative Wildrose Party.