BC NDP in first place

Angus Reid:

The opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) has become the most popular option for voters in British Columbia, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

The online survey of a representative provincial sample of 803 British Columbian adults also shows that the approval rating for the province’s main party leaders is practically the same.

Across British Columbia, 40 per cent of decided voters and leaners (+2 since March) say they will support the NDP candidate in their constituency in the next provincial election. The New Democrats had not been completely alone in first place since a survey conducted exactly one year ago, before the announcement of Gordon Campbell’s resignation as premier.

The governing BC Liberals are now second with 31 per cent (-12). The BC Conservatives have clearly benefitted from the drop in support for the incumbent party, and have reached the highest level ever recorded in an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll (18%, +13). The BC Greens are fourth with eight per cent (-2).

The NDP maintains sizeable leads over the BC Liberals in Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. In the Interior and the North, one-in-five decided voters (20%) are supporting the BC Tories, leading to a virtual tie for first place between New Democrats and Liberals.

While men are virtually split on which one of the two main parties they would vote for (BC Liberals 36%, BC NDP 35%), there is a large gap among women, with 45 per cent of female respondents supporting the NDP, and only 26 per cent backing the BC Liberals. The NDP is also ahead among respondents aged 18-to-34 and those aged 35-to-54, but practically tied with the BC Liberals among respondents over the age of 55.

The New Democrats are holding on to 84 per cent of the voters that supported the party in the 2009 provincial election, while the BC Liberals are only keeping two thirds of their past voters (67%). In fact, one-in-five BC Liberals voters in 2009 (21%) are currently supporting the BC Conservatives.

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