2008 Canadian federal election

2008 Canadian federal election

← 2006 October 14, 2008 (2008-10-14) 2011 →
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308 seats in the House of Commons 155 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	58.8% (5.9pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Stephen Harper Stéphane Dion Gilles Duceppe Party Conservative Liberal Bloc Québécois Leader since March 20, 2004 December 2, 2006 March 15, 1997 Leader's seat Calgary Southwest Saint-Laurent—Cartierville Laurier—Sainte-Marie Last election 124 seats, 36.27% 103 seats, 30.23% 51 seats, 10.48% Seats before 127 95 48 Seats won 143 77 49 Seat change 16 18 1 Popular vote 5,209,069 3,633,185 1,379,991 Percentage 37.65% 26.26% 9.98%[i] Swing 1.38pp 3.97pp 0.50pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Jack Layton Elizabeth May Party New Democratic Green Leader since January 24, 2003 August 27, 2006 Leader's seat Toronto—Danforth Ran in Central Nova (lost) Last election 29 seats, 17.48% 0 seats, 4.48% Seats before 30 1 Seats won 37 0 Seat change 7 1 Popular vote 2,515,288 937,613 Percentage 18.18% 6.78% Swing 0.70pp 2.30pp
Results by electoral district, shaded by winners' vote share Results by province and territory
Prime Minister before election Stephen Harper Conservative Prime Minister after election Stephen Harper Conservative

The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on September 7, 2008.

Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the election due to his belief that there was a lack of cooperation between the minority government Conservatives and the opposition parties, which the former had to rely on to pass legislation; hence Harper argued that Parliament had reached the end of its productiveness.

The election resulted in a second but stronger minority government for Harper's Conservatives. While they were a dozen seats away from a majority government, the Liberal Party led by Stéphane Dion lost 18 seats as the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois made slight gains. The Green Party failed to win any seats and lost its only Member of Parliament. Following the election, the Liberals and New Democrats attempted to form a coalition government and topple the Conservatives from power, but were unsuccessful in doing so.
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