Canada election 2015: Liberals raid Conservative seats while NDP holds ground in B.C.

The Liberals have taken a slight lead in British Columbia, in what was earlier a tight three-way racein various parts of the province.

Although the ridings were looking almost evenly split earlier on Monday night, the Liberals tookthe lead as the polls continued to come in.

• ConservativesKerry-LynneFindlay and AndrewSaxtondefeated
• Liberal KenHardiedefeats NinaGrewalin Fleetwood-PortKells
• Liberal Terry Beech winsBurnabyNorth-Seymour
• LiberalHarjitSajjanreclaims Vancouver South
• B.C. Interior loses some blue hue

As of 11:45 p.m. PT, the Liberals had 15of the province's 42 seats, a jump from only two seats in B.C.

The Conservatives lost the most seats in the province, dropping from a previous total of21seatsto 12with one other seat still in dispute.

The NDP's numbers remained relatively stable, with13confirmedseats.

The Green Party has also kept its one seat on Vancouver Island, with the re-election ofleader Elizabeth May representing the riding ofSaanich-Gulf Islands.

"Welcome to the first night of thepost-Harper era," said May from her riding inSaanich-GulfIslands.

NDP candidateNathen Cullen wasone of the first MPsto be elected, representing the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley. Cullen had run for the leadership of the party in 2012.

Ridings in Metro Vancouver appear to be leaning in the same direction as the rest of Canada mostly Liberal.

"There does seem to be, and this election seems to confirm it in some ways, a desire for change,"saidUBC political science associate professorGeraldBaier.

"There was a lot of talk about minority government in this election. Voters have sort of spoken to say, well, if we're going to empower someone we're going to empower them fully."

Two importantConservative ridings were lost to Liberal candidates Kerry-Lynne Findley, the Minister of National Revenue, has lost to Liberal Carla Qualtrough. And Liberal Ron McKinnonhas taken James Moore's seat in Coquitlam-PortCoquitlam Moore held the seat but announced earlier this summer that he was leaving federal politics.

In Vancouver South, theLiberal's "star candidate"HarjitSajjandefeatedincumbentConservative candidate Wai Young.

B.C. polls close as Liberal government announced

The polls closed at 7 p.m. PT across the province. And for the first time in a federal election, results from other parts of the country weren't blacked out meaning voters were able to hear media across the country projecta Liberal majoritysoon after polls here were closed.

"I think certainly it's not as close as we thought it would be at the beginning of the night," saidBaier.

"You might not have as much of a say in the overall outcome for British Columbians, but I think it's still going to be important who's going to represent you in your riding for the next four or so years."

Elections Canada assured voters if they were in line by7 p.m. PT they would be able to vote.

SpokeswomanDorothy Sitek said there were still long lines at some polling stations in Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island as polls approached closing time earlier in the evening.

• Canada Votes 2015: Election night live blog
• New ridings, new boundaries could affect election outcome
• End of election blackout puts B.C. in 'anomalous situation'

There are 42seats up for grabs in the province, six of them in newridings that were created when electoral boundaries were redrawn in 2012.

Follow the CBC British Columbialiveelection blog.

B.C. is expected to be one of the biggest battle grounds inthe country, with tight three-way races across the province. Four of theparty leaders gave their final plea for votes in B.C.