Harper, 46, is largely unknown abroad, but the Conservative Party leader will soon find himself alongside leaders like US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao at global summits.

Once seen as prickly, awkward, and more at home ploughing through economic theory than glad-handing voters on the campaign trail, Harper smoothed his image over the seven-week campaign.

He rejected Liberal claims he was an "extremist" and that his suave new style concealed a radical right wing streak that would put a smile on the face of Bush, who remains unpopular in Canada.

Whatever his political future holds, he will for now be renowned as the man who thwarted a Liberal Party bid for a fifth election victory in a row.

But as he basked in victory, which avenged his defeat at the hands of Martin’s Liberals in 2004, Harper reached out, seeking to unify the country after a frequently bitter election campaign.

"You know, all of our parties have different philosophies — but we are all democrats and we are stronger because our opponents have put themselves on the line and have advanced policies and values in which they believe."

Nevertheless, Harper warned that he would hear what he said was a demand for change among an electorate tired of the patronage scandals clinging to the Liberals after their long run in power.

Conservatives will be the largest single party after Monday’s election — but they will fall short of a majority.

Harper’s sheaf of daily policy announcements and concentration on corruption scandals tainting the Liberals allowed him to keep the focus away from issues like his opposition to the Kyoto climate change accord, or willingness to review a Canadian decision not to rejoin the US anti-ballistic missile shield.

Harper, a father of two with a gray mop of hair neatly parted and sky-blue eyes, carved out an early reputation as a brilliant theoretical economist.

Opponents have charged his suave new image masks a hard-line right wing agenda, with much in common with the US political powerbase of Bush, who is highly unpopular in Canada.

Martin claimed during the campaign that Harper wanted to curtail abortion rights, reverse same sex marriage reforms, and stack Canadian courts with conservative judges hostile to mainstream Canadian values.

But Harper marginalized more extreme elements of his own party during his successful election campaign, and seemed to track towards the center — aware that doing so gave him the best chance of victory in mostly moderate Canada.