Liberals narrow margin on NDP says Ipsos Reid poll
By Contributor
An Ipsos Reid poll taken in the days following the leaders’ debate shows positive movement for both the BC Liberals and leader Christy Clark.
The NDP lead among decided voters has fallen from 19 points at the start of the campaign to 10 points today.
And Adrian Dix’s lead over Christy Clark as Best Premier has fallen from 13 points to just 3 points today.
The poll says the NDP continues to have a sizeable lead in terms of voter support in BC, but their lead has declined considerably since the start of the campaign.
The NDP currently has the support of 45% of decided voters, down three points from the start of the campaign (48%). The BC Liberals are 10 points back at 35% support, but this is an increase of six points from the start of the campaign (29%).
Some of the BC Liberal gains have clearly come at the expense of the BC Conservatives, who have seen their support decline by 4 points since the start of the campaign (from 11% to 7% today). Meanwhile, support for the Green Party is stable at 10%, up 1 point from the start of the campaign (9%).
These results exclude the 13% (down 6 points) of British Columbians who are undecided or express no preference.
· Region:The NDP continues to lead in all regions of the province, but by smaller margins than at the start of the campaign. They have an 8 point lead (down from 15) in Metro Vancouver (47% NDP vs. 39% BC Lib), a 20 point lead (down from 28) on Vancouver Island (48% NDP vs. 28% BC Lib) and a 9 point lead (down from 21) in the Southern Interior/North (41% NDP vs. 32% BC Lib). The Green Party does best on Vancouver Island (18% support) and the BC Conservatives do best in Southern Interior/North (12% support).
· Gender:The NDP has a 20 point lead (down from 31) among women (50% NDP vs. 30% BC Lib), while the two main parties are tied (NDP led by 7 at start of campaign) among men (40% NDP vs. 40% BC Lib).
Christy Clark has made big gains with voters on the question of which leader would make the best premier of British Columbia. Currently, 31% select Christy Clark, which is an increase of 8 points from the start of the campaign. Adrian Dix still has a narrow lead on this question. He sits at 34%, a decline of 2 points from the start of the campaign.
Jane Sterk is up four points from the start of the campaign to 8% (from 4%), while John Cummins is down 3 points to 7% (from 10%).
Some of Clark’s gains have come from converting those who had no opinion at the start of the campaign. Twenty percent are undecided on this question, which is a decline of 7 points (from 27%).
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