One of the most interesting things about Naheed Nenshi winning the Alberta NDP leadership race is that he almost didn’t enter the contest. As the newly minted leader has said, he was initially scared his brand of politics, “of talking to people, of inspiring people to be bigger than themselves, was completely out of style.”

This is, in the most Nenshi-esque manner of speech, the conundrum for centre-left and left-of-centre politicians at this moment: Does someone like him have a chance to lead and win when an angrier, harder-edged, finances-focused style of politics is in ascendancy?

This was on display in the results of the federal by-election in Toronto-St. Paul’s on Monday, where Conservatives bested the Liberals in a riding the governing party has held for more than three decades – in large part because of voter economic unease. It will also be on display when Mr. Nenshi makes his way in the fraught world of Alberta politics.

To be clear, Mr. Nenshi might disagree with the premise of this column. Shortly after winning an impressive 86 per cent of the first-ballot vote from Alberta NDP members on Saturday, he pointed to the example of Manitoba NDP Leader, now Premier, Wab Kinew. He........

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