The Pollcast: Fear and loathing in Newfoundland and Labrador

The CBCPollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst ric Grenier, explores the world of electoralpolitics,political polls and the trends they reveal.

From hero to zero that might be the story of Dwight Ball, the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. How did one of the country's most popular provincial leaders become its most despised?

• Liberal support continues to drop: poll
• Podcasts: Subscribe to the CBCPollcast

Last November, Ball's Liberals were swept into office in a landslide, winning 57 per cent of the vote and 31 of the 40 seats on offer. The Progressive Conservatives, in power since 2003, were booted back into the opposition benches.

Polling at the beginning of the year showed that Ball had maintained that level of popularity, with two-thirds of voters saying they would cast a ballot for his Liberal Party and 60 per cent saying they approved of his performance as premier.

That ranked him only behind Saskatchewan'sBrad Wall as Canada's most popular premier.

But then the Liberals introduced a harsh budget in the spring, and their polling numbers plummeted. In May, the Angus Reid Institute found that just 17 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradoriansapproved of Dwight Ball.

Last week, a survey from MQO Research pegged Liberal support at just 30 per cent. That put them in third place, behind the PCs and the New Democrats. The poll also showed 71 per cent of respondents thinking the general outlook of the province is getting worse.

Rarely has a plunge in the polls been so deep and so quick.

To tell the story of how this happened, host ric Grenieris joined by the CBC's David Cochraneon this week's episode of the Pollcast.

The CBC Election Pollcast20:26What is going on in Newfoundland and Labrador?

We talk to the CBC's David Cochrane about the declining popularity of Dwight Ball's Liberal government.

Listen to the full discussion above or subscribe to the CBCPollcast and listen to past episodes.

Follow ric Grenier and David Cochraneon Twitter.

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