Canada Conservatives 'set to win'

Voting has ended in Canada's third general election in four years, with early results showing victory for the ruling Conservatives.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who has headed a minority government since 2006, called the snap poll in a bid to secure a majority in parliament.

The Conservatives' victory looks unlikely to bring a majority

The main challenge has come from the Liberals led by Stephane Dion.

However, despite winning more seats, Mr Harper still looks likely to fall short of a parliamentary majority.

The first polls opened at 0830 local time (1100 GMT), with the last polling stations closing on the Pacific coast at 0200 GMT.

Early results indicate that the Conservatives can expect to win 144 seats in the 308- seat parliament, falling short of the 155 needed for a majority.

Before this election, the Conservatives held 127 seats.

Canada was the first big economic power to go to the polls to elect a new government since the financial crisis.

Conservative MP Jason Kenny hailed his party's result in the present circumstances.

"Every other incumbent government in the Western world is in serious political trouble with the economic situation," he said.

"Ours is probably the only one that could be re-elected - let alone with an increased mandate."

Stephen Harper called the snap poll last month

Mr Harper called the election last month amid hopes in his Conservative party that they could secure a majority.

But he was criticised during the campaign for not showing enough empathy with Canadians who have lost money during the upheaval on the stock markets.

Mr Harper's main rival, Liberal leader Stephane Dion, had been promoting an ambitious green carbon tax plan.

But Mr Dion, a French Canadian from Quebec, had difficulty connecting with English-speaking voters, the BBC's Lee Carter says.

The Bloc Quebecois was locked in a close battle to retain its dominance in French-speaking Quebec.