The Conservatives have cruised to victory in Monday’s byelection in the Alberta riding of Yellowhead, and held off strong gains by the Liberals to defend their seat in Whitby-Oshawa, the former riding of the late finance minister Jim Flaherty.

With three quarters of the polls reporting in Yellowhead, Conservative candidate and retired RCMP officer Jim Eglinski had 64 per cent of the vote.

Liberal candidate Ryan Heinz Maguhn was in distant second with 18 per cent, but it was an improvement on his party’s fourth-place 2011 result.

In Whitby-Oshawa, former two-term Whitby mayor Pat Perkins rode a wave of big-name Conservative endorsements to victory. With nearly 80 per cent of polls reporting, she had 48 per cent of the vote.

Liberal challenger Celina Caesar-Chavannes had 42 per cent -- more than triple her party’s 14 per cent showing in 2011, when it finished behind the NDP.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was in Whitby-Oshawa on Monday to support Caesar-Chavannes at her election night rally.

The Liberals have seen a rise in their share of the vote in every federal byelection since Trudeau assumed party leadership in April 2013, and they continued that trend Monday night.

The late Jim Flaherty was much-beloved in Whitby-Oshawa, and took 58 per cent of the vote there in the 2011 election.

The Conservatives campaigned hard to maintain their foothold in the riding. Federal cabinet ministers John Baird, Joe Oliver, Tony Clement and Peter MacKay all visited Whitby-Oshawa to throw their support behind Perkins. Even Prime Minister Stephen Harper dropped in last month to announce the doubling of the children’s fitness tax credit.

Perkins also had a public endorsement from Flaherty’s widow, Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Christine Elliott.

Two of Flaherty’s sons served as honorary chairs for the Perkins campaign.

Yellowhead’s federal seat became available after longtime Conservative MP Rob Merrifield retired. Merrifield won the spot with 77 per cent of the vote in 2011.

New Democrat Leader Thomas Mulcair was in St. John’s, N.L., on Monday to confirm incumbent NDP MP Ryan Cleary’s candidacy.

The NDP vote was down significantly in both ridings.