By Promit Mukherjee
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s main opposition leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat in Monday’s general election, results from Elections Canada showed, as the Conservatives were beaten by the incumbent Liberal Party.
Poilievre, 45, failed to retain his seat in the Ontario district of Carleton, losing it to Liberal Bruce Fanjoy.
The Liberal Party’s victory means Prime Minister Mark Carney, former head of the central Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, will lead a minority government.
The Liberals secured 168 seats, short of the 172 required to form a majority government.
The opposition Conservatives, led by Poilievre, won 144 seats.
That was an improvement on their performance in the 2021 election, but marked an upset as the Liberals, who were trailing in the polls, staged a comeback in the last three months.
“To my fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate tonight. We’ve gained well over 20 seats,” Poilievre said, while conceding defeat to the Liberal Party.
“We are cognizant of the fact that we didn’t quite get over the finish line. Yet we know that change is needed, but change is hard to come by. It takes time.”
Poilievre, a career politician, looked set to become Canada’s next prime minister at the start of the year as he pitched himself as a change from former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had led the Liberals since 2015.
Poilievre rode an anti-Trudeau wave and his sharp one-liners resonated with the public.
But as U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada and often mused about making it his country’s 51st state, opinions shifted in favor of Carney over Poilievre.
Young voters, especially men, continued to support Poilievre and throng to his rallies in the run-up to the election.
“It will be an honor to continue to fight for you and to be a champion of your cause,” Poilievre said in his speech.
It was not immediately known whether he would resign as the leader of the party or continue. An email sent to the Conservative Party was not immediately answered.
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee; editing by Jason Neely)
