Elizabeth May makes history winning first Green party seat in Parliament

It certainly was a 'May Day' in British Columbia election night.

On a night of firsts, Green party Leader Elizabeth May added her name to the history books by becoming the first elected Green party Member of Parliament.

May was declared the winner in her riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands by media outlets after 90 polls had her leading incumbent Conservative MP Gary Lunn by almost 10 per cent.

The Green party focused most of its resources on Saanich Gulf Islands at the expense of a more comprehensive national campaign. The party finished with just 3.8 per cent of the national vote compared to 6.8 per cent in the 2008 election.

But nobody in the party is worried about the drop in national popularity tonight.

"Today we proved that Canadians want change in politics," said May to a boisterous crowd at her campaign office.

Early in the campaign, May and the Greens garnered media attention for not being allowed in the nationally televised leadership debates because they didn't have a seat in the House of Commons.

Well, we can look forward to seeing May in the 2015 debates.

(Reuters Photo)