The brief Tory crack in the Liberals’ hold over Toronto was sewed up Thursday night as incumbent Doug Holyday was defeated in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

In a rematch from last year's by-election, the Liberals’ Peter Milczyn took an early lead in the polls over the Progressive Conservative Holyday, his former city council colleague.

Milczyn was widely declared the winner ahead of Holyday’s arrival at Legends restaurant on The Queensway — dimly lit and hosting a dwindling audience of supporters and regular bar patrons.

“It’s not the end of the world. Life will go on,” Holyday said plainly on stage before 11 p.m. to less than two dozen supporters.

This appears to be the end for Holyday’s length political career. He told the Star after his concession speech that he has no intention to run in the upcoming municipal election nor for any future political seat.

“I’ve had a great political career,” Holyday said. “I really have no regrets. I ran provincially because I thought I could make a difference and I thought there needed to be a difference.”

Holyday’s unseating Thursday marked a short-lived stint at Queen’s Park after he won the by-election in 2013 — a triumph that gave the Tories and Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak their first win in Toronto in more than a decade.

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While Milczyn grew up in the riding, Holyday claimed only “deep roots” there, which consisted of playing “old-timers hockey” in the area, when he ran in the August by-election. Holyday, formerly deputy mayor, represented the city’s Etobicoke Centre ward. Both were long-serving members of Toronto council.

Mayor Rob Ford, who found an ally in Holyday both in his proverbial hunt to end the “gravy train” at city hall and a supporter after the crack scandal broke, presented him with a key to the city after his departure from city council. The mayor and his brother, Councillor Doug Ford, rallied behind pal Holyday during the by-election, however the younger Ford has been in rehab during the provincial campaign.

Holyday’s win in that by-election over Milczyn — 16,034 votes to 14,506 — represented the first win for the Tories in Toronto since 1999. It buoyed Leader Tim Hudak at a time when his leadership was being questioned. NDP and Green candidates trailed considerably in the by-election, which focused on big-ticket issues such as transit.

In early July, nearly a month ahead of the by-election, a Forum Research poll showed Milczyn in the lead, with 45 per cent to Holyday’s 39 per cent.

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Milczyn, a former architectural designer, served as a councillor under Holyday in the pre-amalgamation Etobicoke council and made the move to Toronto, where he has served ever since.

Holyday replaced former Liberal MPP Laurel Broten in Etobicoke-Lakeshore when she stepped aside from politics last year. After running unsuccessfully in Etobicoke West in the late 1980s, Holyday served as a councillor and then one-term as mayor of Etobicoke, later joining the large Toronto council, where he served for 16 years.

“Any unnecessary spending irritates me,” Holyday was once quoted saying. He often fought against ballooning councillor budgets, traded in the Etobicoke mayor’s own Lincoln Town Car for a 1994 Oldsmobile, and was awarded best attendance at Toronto council in 2004.