A new poll has the BC Conservatives leading the province’s provincial election race, with key support coming from an unexpected area.
The survey from pollster Leger pins the Conservatives in first place with 46 support among decided voters, followed by the BC NDP with 43 per cent and the BC Greens trailing in third with 10 per cent.
Steve Mossop, Leger’s executive vice-president for western Canada, said the support of women and young voters forms a crucial part of the Conservative gains.
The poll found John Rustad’s party backed by 49 per cent of female respondents and 47 per cent of voters aged 18 to 34.
“Rustad has done a really good job of reaching women voters and 18-34-year-old group,” he said.
“In a traditional sense, right-wing parties don’t typically get widespread support among those two groups … and that says a lot.”
Mossop said housing remains the top issue in the province, but concerns about health care have risen to challenge it as a primary concern for many voters.
“And in particular BC Conservative voters say that is their number one issue,” he said.
The survey isn’t all doom and gloom for the New Democrats, however.
BC NDP Leader David Eby continues to hold a significant edge in favourability over his Conservative rival.
The poll found 46 per cent of respondents had a favourable view of the NDP leader, compared to 36 per cent for Rustad.
Mossop cautioned that the poll’s top-line findings remain within the margin of error and that the race could still break either way.
“Statistically we are still in a tie; it’s really anybody’s election. There is a nine per cent undecided, and depending on where that nine per cent falls out it could sway every way,” he said.
“But momentum is the other thing. We’ve seen four polls in a row, and we’ve seen a steady increase in Conservative support.”
British Columbians go to the polls on Oct. 19.
The Leger survey was conducted online between Sept. 27 and Sept. 30 among 1,002 British Columbians aged 18 or older, randomly recruited from LEO’s online panel. A margin of error cannot be associated with a non-probability sample in a panel survey. For comparison, a probability sample of 1,002 respondents would have a margin of error of ±3.1 %, 19 times out of 20.