TORONTO -- Voters chose a comfort zone yesterday.

They went back to Premier Dad.

They sent Dalton McGuinty back to the premiers’ seat — but they gave him a spanking on the way.

It was more a kick in the backside than a pat on the back that propelled him into the premier’s office.

But he’s there and that’s all that counts.

The Liberals can hardly say it was a ringing endorsement of their eight years in government.

If they hadn’t hiked hydro rates and brought in the HST, they’d have been shoo-ins.

High-profile Liberal incumbents went down to defeat. Most notable was Leona Dombrowsky, McGuinty’s education minister who lost her Prince Edward-Hastings riding.

How ironic. All-day kindergarten was the centrepiece of the Liberal election campaign platform.

It was said to be so popular that even the PCs went along with it in their campaign platform.

Yet the woman who was implementing that policy was defeated.

McGuinty will not likely stick around much longer. My guess is he’ll be gone after two years — and allow an easy transition to a new leader.

Still, the Liberals can’t gloat. As well as Dombrowsky, they also lost John Wilkinson, one of their key cabinet ministers and the person trusted with implementing the HST.

What lesson is there for PC Leader Tim Hudak?

Well, make no mistake, he keeps his job. There’ll be the naysayers and the backstabbers who will want to undermine him.

And under party rules, after a losing election, there will be a leadership review.

Traditionally, though, leaders always get a second shot. Mike Harris didn’t win his first election. Nor did Dalton McGuinty.

But Hudak has huge lessons to learn from this election.

First, he needs to broaden his base of support.

He will never become premier as long as he can’t elect an MPP in urban centres like Toronto, Ottawa and London.

Then he needs to take coaching about how to come across in a more statesmanlike way.

In this election, he was the rookie up against a seasoned campaigner. All the same, Hudak managed to hold the Liberals to some very tight races in a lot of ridings. The parties were almost tied for popular vote.

In his concession speech he said voters had put McGuinty on a “much shorter leash,” which is exactly what happened.

“It is clear that the people of Ontario have sent a strong message that they want a change in direction,” he said.

Where did he go wrong? What was it that stopped voters from chosing him — when clearly they wanted a change?

Well, Hudak needed to present himself to voters as someone who was solid, someone they could trust with the economy in turbulent times.

He couldn’t do that as long as we was talking about wedge issues like sex education that no longer resonate with voters.

And he needed to explain to voters just who he is.

His platform was so close to the Liberals’, all he was offering was a fresh face. When they took a closer look, they decided they’d stick with the same-old, same-old.

Hudak just didn’t tap in to the issues that were foremost in voters’ minds — jobs and the economy.

Now, he needs to regroup, talk — and listen. Voters will judge him on how he behaves — in the legislature, in the media.

He needs to present himself as a credible leader and someone who can be trusted with the premiership.

And New Democratic Leader Andrea Horwath?

Well, she can be proud of herself for restoring NDP fortunes to their pre-Bob Rae disaster levels.

She ran a good campaign. She seemed more in touch with average voters than either of the two leaders.

The legislature will look very different when it returns. With so many high-profile faces losing their seats or retiring, it’s going to be a very different Queen’s Park.

We’ll have a chastened premier.

A PC leader with a new lease on life.

And the only woman leader looking pretty good.