Ken Nicol (politician)

{{short description|Canadian politician and academic|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Ken Nicol

| honorific-suffix = MLA

| order =

| office = Leader of the Official Opposition in Alberta

| term_start = March 15, 2001

| term_end = March 26, 2004

| predecessor = Nancy MacBeth

| successor = Kevin Taft

| order2 =

| office2 = Leader of the Alberta Liberal Party

| term_start2 = 2001

| term_end2 = 2004

| predecessor2 = Nancy MacBeth

| successor2 = Don Massey (interim)

| office3 = MLA for Lethbridge East

| term_start3 = June 15, 1993

| term_end3 = 2004

| predecessor3 = Archibald D. Johnston

| successor3 = Bridget Pastoor

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|5|3}}

| birth_place = Lethbridge, Alberta{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_sLAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Nicol,+Ken%22+1944+lethbridge|title = Canadian Who's Who 2003|isbn = 9780802088659|last1 = Lumley|first1 = Elizabeth|year = 2003}}

| nationality =

| party = Alberta Liberal Party

| spouse =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession = Academic

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Ken Nicol (born May 3, 1944) is a Canadian politician and academic.

He served as the MLA for Lethbridge-East from 1993 to 2004. During his final three years, he was the leader of the Alberta Liberal Party, and leader of the official opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. He was credited with bringing a more conciliatory approach in the legislature, different from his predecessor Nancy MacBeth, however his soft-spoken nature did not help the party rise in polls.

He left provincial politics to run for the federal Liberals in the riding of Lethbridge in 2004, but lost in a landslide to incumbent Rick Casson.

Nicol is currently an associate professor at the University of Lethbridge.