Jamil Jivani wins Durham for Conservatives by highest margin in 20 years after Trudeau campaigned for Liberal candidate

On Monday, Jamil Jivani won his seat in the Durham by-election, besting his Liberal opponent Robert Rock by the widest margin in 20 years to keep the riding (area) Conservative.

Despite the fact that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau himself campaigned for Rock, the Liberal only managed to garner 22.5 percent of the vote. Jivani, who was widely supported by top Conservatives including Pierre Poilievre, took 57 percent.

According to the CBC, Trudeau attended one of Rock's events in February and tried to hype him up as the man who could turn the Conservative stronghold red, however it appears as though his endorsement was but a trickle compared to the blue wave on which Jivani was surfing.

"Dear [Justin Trudeau]," Jivani wrote in a post on X celebrating his victory. "Durham sent you a message today. Did you receive it?"

The prime minister congratulated Jivani on his win, and urged him to "work together on the issues that matter most to people across Durham."

He also offered his continued support to Rock.

In his acceptance speech, Jivani took aim at the "liberal elites," accusing them of "betraying the working people of this country [and] betraying the middle class."

"When I say liberal elites, I am talking about Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party, but not just them" he added. "I'm also talking about the liberal elites who run big banks and big telecommunications companies driving up the cost of everything ... I'm also talking about the liberal elites who are activists and academics and trying to consistently undermine law enforcement and public safety, leaving the most vulnerable Canadians with fewer protections from our justice system."

Jivani went on to slam the aforementioned groups for "pushing DEI and ESG," to "serve the interests of a privileged few and make you feel like a bad person for expecting our country to work for you."