Paul Martin, freshly installed as Prime Minister, was reduced to a minority as the sponsorship scandal broke and the newly merged Conservative Party under Harper fought its first campaign, ending the era of the divided right.
Prime Minister before
Paul Martin
Liberal
Prime Minister (continued)
Paul Martin
Liberal
Government formed
Liberal
minority government
Turnout
60.9%
The result
Liberal
Paul Martin · -33 seats · 36.7%
135
seats
Conservative
Stephen Harper · +27 seats · 29.6%
99
seats
Bloc Québécois
Gilles Duceppe · +21 seats · 12.4%
54
seats
New Democratic
Jack Layton · +5 seats · 15.7%
19
seats
Share of House
Liberal
Paul Martin
135
-33
4,982,220
36.7%
-4.1
Conservative
Stephen Harper
99
+27
4,019,498
29.6%
-8.1
Bloc Québécois
Gilles Duceppe
54
+21
1,680,109
12.4%
+1.7
New Democratic
Jack Layton
19
+5
2,127,403
15.7%
+7.2
1 further seat went to parties and independents outside the main contenders listed above.
The result by province & territory
Seats won and vote share in each province and territory. Blank cells mean the party did not contest the province; the results table splits allied labels (Liberal-Conservatives, farmers' candidates, independents) that the headline figures group together.