P.E.I. PCs surge under new leader, Greens hold lead: Poll

P.E.I.'s Progressive Conservative Party got the post-leadership convention bump it was hoping for, according to the latest poll from Corporate Research Associates, and it left the Green Party with a clear lead among decided voters.

Tory support jumped from 20 per cent in November to 29 per cent in February.

Green supporters appeared to be unimpressed with Dennis King's winning of the PC leadership. Green support in the poll was unchanged at 38 per cent in February. The PC bump came at the expense of the Liberals, whose support fell from 36 per cent to 27 per cent.

The undecided vote remains high, rising slightly to 26 per cent, up from 23 per cent.

The poll was taken from Feb 4-24, a time when the PCs were in the spotlight twice: once for the leadership convention on Feb. 9, and again when King was criticized for some of his historical tweets on Feb. 15.

The margin of error for decided voters was 6.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The boost for the Tories as party was stronger than the party leader's gain as the preferred choice for premier.

Fifteen per cent of those polled preferred King as premier, a few points higher than the Tory leader did in November. Over the last year the line has been largely flat.

Green Leader Peter Bevan-Baker remained the top choice by a large margin, with 37 per cent preferring him as premier. Premier Wade MacLauchlan's support fell to 20 per cent.

Support for NDP leaderJoe Byrnefell from four per cent to two per cent.

The margin of error for premier preference was 5.8 percentage points.

Despite the dip in support for both MacLauchlan and the Liberals, a bare majority, 51 per cent, of the people polled expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the government. That number, with a margin of error of 4.0 percentage points, has seen little change over the last year.

The poll reached 301 Islanders by telephone.

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