Bay of Quinte sends Neil Ellis back to work with Liberal minority government

In an election too close for pollsters to call, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau managed to keep his job winning a minority government.

And while the Bay of Quinte riding kept Liberal Neil Ellis, ridings to the east and west changed to Conservative blue.

Ellis ended the night with 24,351 votes (39.3 per cent of the vote) – with 1,465 more than Conservative Tim Durkin at 22,886 votes, or 36.9 per cent of the vote.

The NDP’s Stephanie Bell earned 9,770 votes (15.7 per cent) while the Green’s Danny Celovsky ended with 3,744 (six per cent) and the People’s Party of Canada candidate Paul Bordonaro gained 1,202 votes for 1.9 per cent.

Ellis, former Belleville mayor, won the first seat in the new Bay of Quinte riding with 50.7 per cent of the vote in 2015, heading into a majority Liberal government.

Across the nation, for the first time in 40 years, the party that received the most votes in a federal election did not also win the largest share of seats. The Conservatives’ 122 seats reflected 34.4 per cent of the popular vote, versus the Liberals’ 156 seats for 32.9 per cent. And two parties saw significantly less support than polls earlier suggested.

The Bloc Quebecois tripled its seat count to 32 seats to win third place, knocking the NDP to fourth, with 24 seats. The Green Party also tripled, winning three seats.

Countylive.ca partnered with reporters from Loyalist College’s journalism program on election night. More to come Tuesday.