Denis Allchurch

Allchurch was elected to Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1999 from constituencies of Shellbrook-Spiritwood, unseating Lloyd Johnson of the then-governing New Democratic Party in a close race. In 2003 much Allchurch's riding was redistributed into Rosthern-Shellbrook. Running in a new district that included locales historically much less friendly to the NDP, Allchurch was re-elected by comfortable margins in 2003 and 2007.[1]

However, Allchurch had difficulty retaining the loyalty of his own party's memebership. He managed to defeat a challenge for his party nomination prior to the 2007 election. However, on March 3, 2011, Allchurch lost the party nomination for his constituency. Newcomer Scott Moe, a businessperson from Shellbrook, Saskatchewan, ran as the Saskatchewan Party candidate in the 2011 provincial election. Nomination challenges against sitting lawmakers are relatively uncommon in Canada, and successful such challenges are considered rare events.[2] Allchurch's successor would go on to become Premier of Saskatchewan in 2017, an office he still holds as of 2023.