WATCH: NDP claims South Okanagan-West Kootenay

The sprawling riding of South Okanagan-West Kootenay has gone to the NDP.

Dick Cannings is the new MP with 24,823 votes.

His closest contenders were Conservative Marshall Neufeld with 19,894 votes, followed closely by Liberal Connie Denesiuk with 18,727 votes. Fourth place went to Green candidate Samantha Troy with 2,851 votes and independent Brian Gray with 432 votes.

“[My constituents] can expect some hard work and I’ll have an open door policy. I certainly want to work for everyone,” says Cannings.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "[My constituents] can expect some hard work and I'll have an open door policy. I certainly want to work for everyone," says Cannings.

The riding went through extensive changes since the last election. It includes all areas from Osoyoos to Castlegar along the Crowsnest Highway. It also includes Oliver and Penticton to the north along Highway 97, and the Kootenay towns of Naksup, Slocan and New Denver.

It was previously called British Columbia Southern Interior, and redistribution has changed the riding significantly. It now includes the Okanagan cities of Oliver and Penticton, while losing the Kootenay cities of Nelson, Kaslo and Salmo.

In the last election, NDP MP Alex Atamanenko won this riding for a third-term, defeating Conservative candidate Stephen Hill by 12 per cent.

Cannings is a biologist and was a provincial candidate in Penticton in the 2013 election.

“I want to be the voice for science and the environment in parliament,” he says.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I want to be the voice for science and the environment in parliament," he says.

WATCH: Election night coverage of NDP win in South Okanagan-West Kootenay riding

Live Canada election results 2015: Real-time results in the federal election

Live coverage of the 2015 federal election

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