Williams, Tories dip in latest poll

Danny Williams and his governing Progressive Conservatives are still poised to dominate the next election in Newfoundland andLabrador but their support has dropped slightly in recent months,a poll suggests.

Thequarterly tracking poll by Corporate Research Associates, released Tuesday, indicates that 70 per cent of decided voters would back a Tory candidate if an election were held now.

That's down from 74 per cent recorded in the last quarterly poll, conducted in August.

The latest poll conducted between Nov. 10 and Dec. 7 found that 19 per cent of decided voters favoured the Liberals, up a percentage point, while the New Democrats also picked up a point, rising to nine per cent of decided support.

About 24 per cent of those polled said they were undecided or had no plans to vote, up from 20 per cent in August.

Williams' support drops to 73%

Williams still commands the most support among the political leaders, with 73 per cent of respondents naming the premier as their favourite leader, down from 78 per cent in the last poll.

By contrast, Liberal leader Gerry Reid remained at nine per cent, while NDP leader Lorraine Michael climbed three points to seven per cent.

Under fixed-date legislation introduced by Williams, the next general election will be held Oct. 9, 2007.

The CRA poll involved a sample of 807 adults, and is considered accurate to within 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.