The Liberal Party of Canada has made a stunning turnaround in this year’s federal election.
In total, the Liberals officially won 184 seats, surpassing 170 seat minimum for a majority government.
The Liberal win effectively ends close to 10 years of Conservative leadership under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Harper has indicated that he will indeed be stepping down as leader of the Conservatives, but will remain as an MP.
“During the past 9 1/2years it has been an unbelievable honour to serve as your prime minister,” he said in his Calgary riding. “We gave everything we have to give and we have no regrets whatsoever. Friends, how could we? We remain citizens of the best country on Earth.”
The NDP had a disastrous day and experienced a fallout of support with so far only 44 seats won. Many anticipate that these results signify the end of Mulcair’s NDP leadership.
The Conservatives ended the evening with 99 seats and 31.9% of the popular vote, the NDP with 44 seats (19.7%), the Bloc Québécois with 10 seats (4.7%) and the Greens with one seat, leader Elizabeth May’s in B.C., and 3.5% support.
Conservative support remained roughly the same as it has been in polls, with the huge Liberal gains came largely at the expense of the NDP party.
Trudeau will turn his attention to forming a cabinet and grappling with the host of urgent challenges that await him as soon as today.