Conservative Alice Wong loses Richmond Centre seat to Liberal challenger

Liberal candidate Wilson Miao is seen in an image from his campaign website.

Vancouver -

In a significant upset, the long-time Conservative incumbent in Richmond Centre has lost her seat to a political newcomer, according to the CTV News Decision Desk.

The race was too close to call on election night, but Liberal challenger Wilson Miao emerged as the winner on Thursday evening.

Incumbent Alice Wong had served as MP for the riding since 2008 before losing to Miao, a first-time candidate with a background in marketing and real estate.

Miao grew up in Richmond after immigrating from Hong Kong with his family as a child.

The Liberals managed to snatch Richmond's other seat – the riding of Steveston-Richmond East – from the Conservatives as well. Incumbent Kenny Chiu lost his seat by more than 3,300 votes to Parm Bains.

At dissolution, B.C. had 17 Conservative MPs, 11 Liberals, 11 New Democrats, two Greens and one Independent: former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, who did not seek re-election.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau gambled that a pandemic election would restore his party to a majority government, as it had after the 2015 election. That gamble ultimately failed to pay off, with the Liberals returning to Parliament with a similar minority.