‘No outside voices’: Ward Nakota Isga councillor Reed Clarke leaves Better Edmonton to sit as independent
Posted November 10, 2025 2:02 pm.
Last Updated November 11, 2025 6:55 pm.
One of the new faces on Edmonton’s city council is walking away from the political party he campaigned under – exactly three weeks after being elected.
Reed Clarke, the new councillor for Ward Nakota Isga, is leaving the Better Edmonton party and will instead sit as an independent.
“I appreciate the support I received from the Better Edmonton team,” Clarke wrote in an Instagram post Monday. “However, moving forward I will no longer be participating or coordinating with the party. My sole focus has always been and will always be representing the people of West Edmonton.
“Edmonton is confronting significant challenges and opportunities. I believe our council will be most effective in addressing them if we collaborate and move forward together with a shared purpose.”
Clarke adds he will “will work collaboratively with all of my Council colleagues and Mayor Knack to build the best Edmonton we can, together.”
In an interview with CityNews Tuesday, Clarke confirmed he was cutting ties with the municipal party to be a voice for all residents he represents on council.
“It’s the best move to move on, and kind of be that independent voice and make sure I represent everybody in this ward.
“My campaign was very rooted on the issues of the ward. I did a lot of key messages and things I wanted to tackle: transportation, safety, having a voice on how we densify and develop our neighbourhoods.”
Clarke says he was under the impression Better Edmonton was going to dissolve after the election. Party leader and mayoral candidate Tim Cartmell indeed announced last month the party would “go dormant” after the Oct. 20 vote.
“There was a message that came out late last week that they’re gonna continue with the party,” Clarke told CityNews. “I think that’s good for them, they wanna continue. I wanna be clear to everyone in Nakota Isga that I’m representing them, that there’s no outside voices that are influencing me or talking to me.”
Clarke was one of three Better Edmonton candidates elected Oct. 20, along with Karen Principe in Ward tastawiyiniwak and Michael Elliott in Ward pihêsiwin.
Edmonton’s city council now has 11 independents and two councillors affiliated with Better Edmonton.
“We want to provide freedom for our candidates to work with their fellow colleagues and fix some of the issues our great city is facing,” Better Edmonton board chair Cam Johnson said in a statement. “Better Edmonton will continue to advocate around our core priorities: safer streets, fiscal accountability, and building it better from infill to construction. We’re optimistic about the future!”
Johnson says he spoke to Clarke last week and “appreciate(s) that he is striving to put his best foot forward with this new council. As we’ve stated before, party operations don’t really work within the constraints of governing municipally.”
Future of Better Edmonton?
Political analyst John Brennan expects some of the 6,077 electors who cast a ballot for Clarke will be disappointed by his decision.
“I’m sure some of these people voted for Reed Clarke because he was running on the Better Edmonton party ticket.”
Nakota Isga, in the city’s west end, was previously represented by now-Mayor Andrew Knack for 12 years.
“I’ve spent a lot of time during the campaign talking about the importance of being independent, speaking to the voices of Edmontonians, and so I think at the end of the day it’s the right decision for him and I’m here to support him in his decision,” Edmonton’s new mayor said.
Brennan believes the future of Better Edmonton is up in the air.
“It’s all gonna depend on how this new council works,” he said. “Does this new council address the main issues that were raised during the recent municipal election campaign? Things like taxes, things like infill and mature neighbourhoods. Things like construction chaos in the city.”
