Disillusioned with the lack of leadership in the Alberta Liberal party, Calgary-Currie MLA Dave Taylor announced he is leaving the party to sit as an independent. 

"I believe that as leader, he (Dr. David Swann) has failed to address these significant issues even though he's had sixteen months and plenty of advice from key party executives, many of my colleagues in caucus and rank and file party members," Taylor said in a message on his website.

Taylor, who lost the leadership race to Swann in December 2008, says the party has failed to capitalize on the growing discontent Albertans have with the ruling Tory government.

The party, Taylor writes, has "utterly failed" to present itself as an alternative and "are adrift, lacking a coherent vision and the strategic focus and direction to clearly communicate a vision to Albertans."

While the Conservative party has faltered in the polls under the leadership of Premier Ed Stelmach, the Liberals seem to have stalled in popularity and been overtaken by the right-wing Wildrose Alliance Party.

Taylor, considered to be more right-leaning than Swann, was first elected in 2004, and was the party's opposition critic for the departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Affairs and Municipal Affairs.

In a press release, Swann said the party regrets that Taylor "chose this course of action without speaking to us first" and that he thoroughly rejects Taylor's characterization of his leadership.

So now the rumours beging to swirl. Will Taylor continue to sit as an independent, or will he cast off the red tie to join the Wildrose or the Conservative party? He has reportedly ruled out running for mayor in Calgary.