New poll suggests PCs in lead heading into election, but Pallister's popularity lags

With the election just weeks away, the Progressive Conservatives maintain a significant lead over the NDP, but more people have an unfavourable opinion of Brian Pallister than any other leader, a new poll by Mainstreet Research suggests.

Among decided and leaning voters who responded to the poll, the PCs had 42.5 per cent support (down 2.3 percentage points since a similar poll was done in March), while the NDP had 34.7 per cent support (up 2.6 percentage points).

The poll responses put theLiberals at 11.9per cent support (down 1.2 percentage points) and the Greens at 9.6per cent (up 2.9 percentage points).

"The level of support for both the NDP and the Conservatives is roughly the same as it was since the last time we polled in March, although the NDP is doing somewhat better," said Quito Maggi, president and CEO of Mainstreet Research, in a news release issued Thursday.

"That said, Brian Pallister has the advantage at this stage in the election and would likely win if the vote were held today."

The automated telephone interviews asked potential voters, "If a provincial election were held today, which party would you vote for?"

Manitobans head to the polls on Sept. 10.

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However, when it comes to having a favourable or unfavourable opinion of the party leaders,46.2 per cent of those polled said they hadan unfavourable view of Pallister.

Respondents were asked, "Do you have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of the following leaders?"

Almost 38 per cent of those polled said they had an unfavourable opinion of NDP Leader Wab Kinew compared to 26 per cent for Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont and 19.4 per cent for Green Party Leader James Beddome.

Nearly the same number of respondents had favourable opinions of Kinew and Pallister. Among those polled, 31.6 per cent said they have a favourable opinion of Kinew, and 30.8 per cent had a favourable opinion of Pallister.

The majority of those surveyed were not sure or not familiar with Beddome(64.8 per cent) or Lamont (53.2 per cent).

The pollster said Kinew has the best "net favourability" among all party leaders.

The poll surveyed 808Manitobans from Aug. 17 to 19.

The survey was conducted using automated telephone interviews, known asinteractive voice recording, so a margin of error does not apply. However, acomparable random sample would yield results within plus or minus 3.4 percentage points and would be accurate 19 times out of 20.

Respondents were contacted on both landlines and cellphones.

Read the Mainstreet poll here:

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