Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre has been defeated in Carleton, ending his nearly two-decade tenure as a Member of Parliament in the Ottawa-area riding. As of 4:43 a.m., preliminary results showed Liberal candidate Bruce Fanjoy winning the riding with 50.6 per cent of the vote. Fanjoy received 42,374 votes, compared to 38,581 votes for Poilievre. The result is certain to ignite questions over Poilievre’s future as leader on a night that saw the Conservatives increase their seat count and vote share but finish second to the Liberal Party. Poilievre spoke to supporters before the results were declared in his own riding, vowing to stay on as leader after the Conservative Party finished second to the Liberal Party. “To my fellow Conservatives, we have much to celebrate. Tonight we’ve gained well over 20 seats. We got the highest share of the vote our party has received since 1988,” Poilievre told supporters. It’s the only riding in Ottawa that saw an incumbent MP defeated. Poilievre and Fanjoy had been waging an intense ground battle in the riding where the Alberta-born Conservative was first elected in the 2004. The riding covers the western and southern areas of the city of Ottawa. Poilievre won the riding in the 2021 election with 50 per cent of the vote. The riding was contested by 91 candidates on the ballot, largely due to a protest group called the Longest Ballot Committee, which was able to convince dozens of candidates to register as independent candidates as part of a protest for electoral reform. According to Elections Canada, 90 of 91 candidates on the ballot received a vote in the election. Preliminary figures show voter turnout in Carleton was 79 per cent. Carleton saw the highest voter turnout in advance polling in the country, with Elections Canada reporting that nearly 44,000 votes were cast over a four-day period of early voting during the Easter long weekend. Mark Carney’s Liberals have held on to power Monday night, winning enough seats in the 45th federal election to form a minority government. Carney won his seat in the riding of Nepean. With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Josh Pringle