the conservatives, who had been leading in the polls since the writs were dropped, won 166 seats - enough for the first conservative majority government since the progressive conservative-canadian alliance merger that formed the party in 2003. notably, the tories made significant inroads in toronto, taking eight seats there. while the tories had won a few seats in the toronto suburbs since the pc-canadian alliance merger, this was the first time a right-of-centre party had won seats in the former metro toronto itself since the pc meltdown of 1993. combined with their traditionally heavy support in the west, this was enough to win a 14-seat majority with 39.62 percent of the national popular vote - a result also notable for being the first time the modern conservative party successfully polled a larger share of the vote than the combined tally of the pc and ca parties in the election preceding their merger.