In his victory speech on election night, Nov. 7, Saskatchewan’s premier-designate, Brad Wall, borrowed a line from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the popular British television show from the 1970s: “And now for something completely different,’’ quipped the 41-year-old leader of the Saskatchewan Party.

Wall could be forgiven for his hubris, having defeated the 16-year-old New Democratic Party government, headed by Lorne Calvert, with a majority.

Wall’s Saskatchewan Party, an amalgam of former Progressive Conservative and Liberal members of the legislative assembly, won office in only its tenth year of existence.

And Wall won a clear majority from Sas-katchewan voters, polling slightly more than 52% of the popular vote vs 36% for the NDP — the latter’s worst showing in decades.

Wall overcame an NDP campaign that suggested “big Brad wolf’’ was going to privatize Saskatchewan’s Crown corporations, which provide electricity, home heating, telecommunications and auto insurance services to the province’s one million inhabitants.

This was despite the fact that the Saskat-chewan Party platform forbade selling off the province’s four major Crown corporations — SaskPower, SaskEnergy, SaskTel and Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI).

But the fact that Wall had to concede that the Crown corporations were untouchable shows how far to the left the former business-development officer from Swift Current, Sask., had moved the party.

Since taking over the party leadership in 2004, Wall softened its positions on controversial issues such as boot camps for young offenders. He tried to distance the party from its rural roots, which emphasized social conservatism and right-wing populism.

Unlike former leader Elwin Hermanson — a farmer from Beechy, Sask., a former Reform Party of Canada member of Parliament and a graduate of Full Gospel Bible Institute — Wall is photogenic, at ease in front of camera or microphone and comfortable in his own skin.

Unlike his predecessor, who narrowly lost the 1999 and 2003 elections before stepping down as leader in 2004, Wall appeals to urban, female and middle-of-the-road voters who are more concerned about the condition of the roads, education and health care than debates about public ownership.

Although Wall’s low-key campaigning style, moderate policies and refusal to sling mud with the NDP won many voters, it has also blurred the distinction between the Saskatchewan Party and the NDP.

On many policy issues, there seems to be little difference between the two parties. As one former NDP politician observed, the Saskatchewan Party is “NDP Lite,’’ with similar policies on Crown corporations, equalization (both parties agree Ottawa should pay Saskatchewan more) and taxes (both say they should be lower).

Over the years, the NDP has also moved to the centre, lowering personal income taxes in 2000, lowering corporate taxes in the 2006 budget and chopping two percentage points off the provincial sales tax in the fall of 2006.

The party that introduced medicare in the early 1960s and nationalized the potash mines in the 1970s drastically cut government spending and balanced the budget in the 1990s. More recently, it revamped resources royalties to stimulate economic activity.

It will be interesting to see how far Wall will go to differentiate his government from that of the NDP. He did implement two campaign promises immediately: fixed election dates every four years and eliminating the PST cut on used-car sales.

It’s a change — but not exactly “something completely different.’’ IE