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Byelection results: Are the Liberals now the party to beat?

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau speaks following the win of candidate Emmanuel Dubourg (R) in the by-election of the Bourassa riding in Montreal, November 25, 2013. REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (CANADA - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS)

At first blush, Monday night's byelections held few surprises.

The Conservatives reclaimed two Manitoba ridings while the Liberals took the Montreal riding of Bourassa as well as the hotly-contested Toronto Centre seat with star candidate Chrystia Freeland.

But looking a little closer, it proved to be a big night for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals, who captured about 17% more votes in the four contested ridings than they did in the last federal election, and the Manitoba Tories won with substantially narrower margins than in 2011. Larry Maguire took the Brandon-Souris riding with 44.1 per cent of the vote, compared to 63.7 per cent in 2011, and Ted Falk captured Provincher with 58.1 per cent of the vote, compared to 70.6 last time around.

[ Full story: Tories retain two seats but suffer big loss in voter support ]

If nothing else, it shows that support for the governing Conservatives may be crumbling, while the popularity of Justin Trudeau — despite the Tories' best efforts to paint him as 'not ready to lead' — continues to rise.

Surprisingly, despite NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair's daily full-court press on Prime Minister Stephen Harper over the ongoing Senate scandal, the NDP was a real non-factor on byelection night, getting shut out of the four ridings and actually losing about six per cent in the popular vote.

"The [NDP] is no longer the hopeful, optimistic party of Jack Layton, it is the negative, divisive party of Thomas Mulcair," Trudeau said at the Bourassa victory party. "It is the Liberal party that proved tonight that hope is stronger than fear, that positive politics can and should win out over negative."

So we ask you: Do Monday night's byelection results indicate the Liberals are now the party to beat?

Have your say in the comments area below.