Canada’s Justin Trudeau to stay in office after special election ‘disaster’
- The prime minister’s Liberals lost a Toronto seat they had held for decades, showing the party’s vulnerability in the vote-rich area
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made clear on Tuesday he would stay in office amid fresh questions about his future after the ruling Liberal Party lost a safe seat in a special election.
The official opposition Conservatives won the race in the Toronto-St Paul’s constituency for first time since 1988. The election was called after the previous legislator quit.
The victory marked the first time since 2015 that the Conservatives had broken the Liberals’ control of vote-rich Toronto, which is home to dozens of seats and key to Trudeau’s hold on power.
“I hear people’s concerns and frustrations. These are not easy times and it is clear I and my entire Liberal team have much more hard work to do,” Trudeau told reporters in Vancouver.
“My focus is on your success and that’s where it’s going to stay,” he added.
The next federal election must be held by end-October 2025 and a range of polls show the Liberals, who have been in power since November 2015, would lose badly to the Conservatives.