Pierre Poilievre wins Battle River-Crowfoot riding

Poilievre speaks on Monday night at a victory party in Camrose. Image from campaign video.

Pierre Poilievre is now an Albertan MP.

The leader of the Conservative Party can now join his fellow party members in the House of Commons, after a win in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding, the constituency just south of the Lakeland.

After making national history with the largest list of registered candidates in one riding with 204, Poilievre claimed 80.4 per cent of the vote at just over 40,000 ballots.

Independent Bonnie Critchley had the second most votes with 5013, roughly 9.9 per cent.

Damien Kurek vacated his Conservative seat after the April federal election, where Poilievre lost his home Carlton riding for the first time since 2004.

While the victory was all but expected, now he can square off against Prime Minister Mark Carney as the leader of the Official Opposition on Sept. 15.