Conservatives put pressure on Trudeau with Toronto St-Paul’s by-election win

The Conservatives have narrowly snatched the Toronto-St Paul’s seat from the Liberals, in a huge political upset that is expected to intensify political pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Candidate Don Stewart won the closely-watched by-election by a margin of little more than 500 votes.

The electoral district was considered a Liberal stronghold, having been held by the PM’s party for more than 30 years.

Mr Trudeau has seen a significant drop in his popularity, due to a host of issues including cost-of-living pressures affecting the population.

A recent Ipsos poll for Global News suggested that as many as 68% of Canadians wanted him to step down.

However, Mr Trudeau has repeatedly pledged to lead his party into the next nationwide poll – which is expected by October next year.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre described Mr Stewart’s win as a “shocking upset”, saying locals “voted to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime”.

Pundits have suggested that the Toronto-St Paul’s result could be symbolic of a tough general election for the Liberals next time the whole country goes to the polls.

Former MP Carolyn Bennett won the seat nine times before her recent resignation, in order to become the country’s ambassador to Denmark.

Mr Stewart won with around 42% of the vote, with 15,555 ballots cast for him, according to Elections Canada. Liberal candidate Leslie Church took 14,965.