Nova Scotia Liberals maintain lead in new poll but support sags slightly
The provincial Liberals hold a slim lead in Nova Scotia, according to the results of a new survey.
The poll, which was conducted by MQO Research via telephone from Oct. 18 to Nov. 3 found that, among decided and leaning voters, current Liberal support sits at 42 per cent, down three percentage points from last quarter’s results. At the same time, the rating for the leadership of Premier Stephen McNeil edged up from a mean score of 4.7 on a 10point scale last quarter to 5.0 in October.
Meanwhile, Progressive Conservative party support was up five percentage points to 36 per cent and NDP support was down five percentage points to 15 per cent. Support for the Green Party was relatively unchanged at six per cent, as was the undecided contingent, which made up 42 per cent of respondents.
“Liberal support in Halifax is the continued source of their political strength,” said Stephen Moore, vice-president at MQO Research. “The Liberals are double the next closest party in Halifax while they trail the Tories in the rest of the province.”
“The NDP are at a two-year low in terms of public support and they need to be worried. Weakened NDP support was one of the first steps toward the Green surges in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.”
The survey also looked at the economic outlook for the province, which was relatively unchanged in October. Twenty-nine per cent of Nova Scotians reported their outlook on the economy had worsened over the past three months — down slightly from 33 per cent in July — while 52 per cent indicated their outlook had stayed the same, up from 49 per cent. Only 17 per cent felt things had gotten better, up from 14 per cent.
The poll, part of MQO’s Atlantic Matters quarterly survey, included 600 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus four percentage points 19 times out of 20.