At the time of going to press, polls for the 19 October election showed that the three main parties — Harper’s right-wing Conservatives, the left-of-centre Liberals and the slightly-further-to-the-left National Democratic Party (NDP) — each had around 30% of the vote.
Even if the Conservatives were the biggest party, they would be unlikely to have enough support in Parliament to maintain a minority government, leaving the way open for an NDP-Liberal coalition, or a minority NDP or Liberal government that could rule with the help of the other party.
With
