The Conservative Party of Canada, led by Stephen Harper, won a minority government. The Conservatives won 124 seats. The former governing party, the Liberal Party of Canada, won 103 seats. The separatist Bloc Québécois won 51 seats and the social-democratic New Democratic Party 29. An independent candidate won a seat in Quebec. The Conservatives won only 40.3% of the seats, the smallest share of house seats ever won by a government in an election. The Conservative's 36.3% of the vote is also the smallest vote share, of a first-placed party. Joe Clark won only 35.9% of the vote in 1979, but in that election the Liberals won 40.1%.