Premier Jean Charest loses home riding of Sherbrooke

Former Bloc Qubcois MP Serge Cardin hasdefeatedQuebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest in his home riding of Sherbrooke.

Withall polls reporting, the Parti Qubcois's Cardinhad 42 per cent of the vote to Charest's 35 per cent.

Jean Charest: Bio

Born: June 24, 1958, in Sherbrooke, Que.

Education: Law degree, Universit de Sherbrooke, 1980.

Political career: Elected to House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative MP in 1984. Became youngest-ever cabinet minister in 1986. Federal PC leader from 1995-98. Named Quebec Liberal leader in 1998. Elected premier in 2003, re-elected in 2007 and 2008.

Coalition Avenir Qubeccandidate Philippe Girard trailed with 12 per cent.

Charest conceded defeat in a speech at about 11:20 p.m. ET. He congratulated Cardin andthanked Sherbrooke voters, whom hehas representedat thefederaland then provincial level for 28 years.

"I'm very proud to be a Quebecer, and I'm also very proud to be a Canadian. And I want to say to all of you tonight, and all of you interested in the future of Quebec, that the result of this election campaign speaks to the fact that the future of Quebec lies within Canada,"Charest said in hisspeech.

Charest has come close to losing his provincialseat before. He won by a margin of 3.7 per cent in the 2007 Quebec election, and held on by fewer than eight points in 2003 and 2008.

He becomes the first sitting premier since Robert Bourassa in 1976 to lose his own riding.

Cardin had strong support in Sherbrooke during the campaign. Charest'sown former justice minister Marc Bellemare, among others,came out in support of the PQ candidate.

Charest first won the provincialseat in 1998, after he resigned as federal leader of the Progressive Conservative Party to take the helm of the Quebec Liberals.In the byelection to replace him in the House of Commons, Cardin won the riding for the Bloc Qubcois.