Michael Ignatieff, the Liberal leader, miscalculated in threatening (but failing) to bring the government down.

ECONOMIST: Stephen Harper does foreign policy

But the leader of the main opposition Liberal party, the author and historian Michael Ignatieff, ruled out forming a coalition with either of the two smaller opposition parties.

BBC: Canada to vote for new government on 2 May

Not only did their leader, Michael Ignatieff, fail to win his seat, but they were outflanked to their left by the New Democrats (NDP), a niche party that now becomes the official opposition.

ECONOMIST: Canada's general election