Progressive Conservative candidate Jim Baker won the Labrador West byelection Tuesday night, allowing the governing Tories to claim a seat from the New Democratic column.

Labrador City Coun. Jim Baker received high-powered help on the campaign trail in the Labrador West byelection.
(CBC)

With all 28 polls reporting, Baker had 1,666 votes, Elections Newfoundland and Labrador reported with unofficial results.

Darrel Brenton, hoping to retain the seat for the NDP, placed second, with 1,240 votes.

Labrador Party candidate Ron Barron had 670 votes and Liberal Karen Oldford trailed with 427 votes.

Baker, a Labrador City councillor, received high-profile support throughout the campaign, with Premier Danny Williams and numerous other cabinet ministers campaigning in the district.

Darrel Brenton had hoped to hold Labrador West for the NDP, which has held the seat since 1999.
(CBC)

Brenton said the presence of so many Tory ministers may have persuaded some voters to back the government side.

"It may have had an impact," Brenton said Tuesday night. "[But] I'm going to keep Mr. Baker's nose to the grindstone and make sure that they produce."

Williams told CBC News he had no apologies for leading such an aggressive campaign in Labrador West.

"We threw everything at it," Williams said.

"We were there in full force, but I have to be honest — that's no different than any other byelection."

'We threw everything at it,' Premier Danny Williams said of the PC campaign in Labrador West.
(CBC)

The vote was called when New Democrat MHA Randy Collins resigned in February to take a job in Ontario with the United Steelworkers union.

Collins, one of five politicians named last year in a series of reports by Auditor General John Noseworthy on excessive payments of constituency allowances, denied that the scandal played a role in his decision to quit politics.

The legislative spending scandal, though, was scarcely raised during the campaign, with the candidates focusing instead on local issues.

The race was particularly competitive, with all four candidates entering it with a high local profile.

PCs shut out over a decade

Labrador West has the distinction of being the only district in the province to be represented in the house of assembly by all three main political parties over the last 30 years.

The PCs had not won in the district, formerly known as Menihek, since Alec Snow held it between 1989 and 1996.

Labrador West is the fifth byelection in Newfoundland and Labrador in just over a month. The Tories won three — in Ferryland, Kilbride and Port au Port districts — while the Liberals picked up a formerly PC seat in Humber Valley.

Before Tuesday's byelection, standings in the house of assembly were 34 PCs, 12 Liberals and one New Democrat.

A general election has been scheduled for Oct. 9.