Tuesday, May 25, 2010

NDP Still Lead in BC

I hope everyone had a wonderful Victoria Day/Journée nationale des patriotes long weekend!

On May 20, the Mustel Group released a new poll on the provincial voting intentions of British Columbians. It shows very little change.
Compared to Mustel's last poll in November 2009, the New Democrats have gained one point and now lead with 44%. The governing BC Liberals are 12 points behind with 32%, down three points.

The Greens are down two to 13% while the BC Conservatives are up five to 7%.

Not to compare apples to oranges, but the last BC poll (by Angus-Reid in April) had the NDP at 47%, the BC Liberals at 29%, the Greens at 14%, and the BC Conservatives at 5%. So, this Mustel poll seems to confirm the general situation in the province right now.

Premier Gordon Campbell's approval rating continues to slide to 28%, down from 34%. His disapproval rating has risen to 61% from 57%.

NDP leader Carole James, on the other hand, is showing modest improvement. Her approval/disapproval rating is now 40/35, compared to 39/37 in November.

As to the top issue in British Columbia, it should come as no surprise that it is taxes/HST, at 21%. This is the top issue for NDP supporters (22%) and Green supporters (23%), while it is the third issue (16%) for BC Liberal supporters.

The other top issues are the economy (18%), healthcare (13%), and education (9%). At 30%, the economy is the top issue for BC Liberal supporters, while education (15%) is the second issue for NDP supporters.

Things continue to look dire for Gordon Campbell, but he still has, oh, three years to turn things around.