After being the talk of the 2011 election with the "Orange Crush", the NDP is back to the drawing board after finishing 3rd in Monday's election.

The NDP had 103 seats in 2011 and fell 59 seats after the Liberals came away with a majority government.

Locally in the Foothills riding the NDP's Alison Thompson finished 3rd, behind the Liberal's Tanya MacPherson and seat winner John Barlow.

Thompson knew it was going to be a tough fight in the riding.

"The Liberals were strong last election going into this, so I don't think there's any surprises there and the NDP certainly would have loved to hang on to the incumbent seats but obviously there's more to come," she says.

Thompson had just six percent of the popular vote in the Foothills but says with the Liberals pushing for a proportional representation government, she knows those who marked an 'X' by her name will have more of a voice in the next election, whenever that may be.

"I really think this just underscores why proportional representation is needed in this country, so the election isn't over till its over," she says. "I think the NDP will be looking for the Liberals to hold to their promise to basically put proportional representation in for the next election."

Thompson says she knows her party is happy with the results of the Conservatives no longer being in power.

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