Canada Conservatives win election

Liberal leader Paul Martin said he had telephoned Mr Harper to congratulate him on becoming the first Conservative PM in more than 12 years.

However, Mr Harper will almost certainly not gain an outright majority and will require alliances.

Mr Martin said early on Tuesday that he would now step down as the leader of the Liberals.

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Conservatives gain Canada vote

Preliminary elections results made public at 10pm (0300 GMT) have indicated that the opposition Conservative party has made significant gains against the ruling Liberal party in Canada, but just shy of forming a majority government.

Despite Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin’s eleventh hour warnings of a right-wing Conservative agenda in the country, 36% of Canadians voted for the Conservative party led by economist Stephen Harper.

The initial results on Monday indicated Harper will be the 22nd prime minister of the country.

The Liberals won just 30% of the popular vote.

Paul Martin conceded defeat and said he would step down as head of the party, although he will remain in Parliament to represent the Montreal seat he won again.

"I have just called Stephen Harper and I've offered him my congratulations," Harper told a subdued crowd at his headquarters in Montreal.

"We differ on many things, but we all share and believe in the potential and the progress of Canada."

Biggest story

The biggest story of the night is the extent to which the Conservatives succeeded in winning seats away from the Liberals in French-speaking Quebec.

The Conservatives have so far won 10 seats in Quebec, up from zero seats in 2004.

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