An Alberta Conservative MP says he’ll resign his seat so party leader Pierre Poilievre can run for a seat in Parliament.

Damien Kurek, who was re-elected in Battle River—Crowfoot on Monday with nearly 82 per cent of the vote, announced his decision Friday.

Mr. Poilievre lost his Carleton riding to the Liberals in Monday’s election in an upset that sent shockwaves to the party and dulled some of their jubilation at increasing their seat count overall and their share of the popular vote - though they failed to defeat the Liberals.

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Mr. Kurek said what’s best for Canada is to have Mr. Poilievre in the House of Commons to hold the Liberal minority to account.

Mr. Kurek said he intends to run again in the next election in his riding.

“Although it will be hard to temporarily step away from this role, in this region I love and have always called home, the mandate given to me is one that clearly states that change is needed,” he said in a statement.

“Offering this seat to our Party Leader is an important step in that process.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier Friday that he’d trigger a by-election to allow Mr. Poilievre to run for a seat as soon as possible.

More to come