Alberta cabinet minister Rajan Sawhney says she won't seek re-election this spring

An Alberta government cabinet minister says she will not run again in the upcoming provincial election.

Rajan Sawhney, minister of trade, immigration and multiculturalism, made the announcement Friday night on Twitter.

"I would like to thank my colleagues, my team, my supporters and most of all, my family for their unconditional and unwavering support over the past many years," Sawhneywrote on Twitter.

Sawhney was first elected in 2019 as the member of the legislature for Calgary-North East and says she will continue to serve until the end of the government's current mandate.

She says she is still a strong supporter of Premier Danielle Smith and looks forward to the United Conservative Party forming government again after May.

Last fall Sawhney, who served as transportation minister and community andsocial services minister in former premier Jason Kenney's cabinet, campaigned for the leadership of the party against Smith and five other candidates.

Sawhney was the first Calgary MLA to join that race.

Sawney, who is 51, did not say what she plans to do after leaving provincial politics.

In October, Chestermere-Strathmore MLA Leela Aheer,who also campaigned to lead the UCP, announced on Twitter that she would also notrun for the United Conservative Party in the next election.