Ontario’s Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties hold even shares of public support, but Premier Dalton McGuinty is still the preferred party leader, according to a new poll.
A Nanos Research poll released on Thursday shows the governing Liberal party and their PC opposition in a virtual tie with 34 per cent and 34.7 per cent of public support respectively.
Support for the NDP has waned to 22.1 per cent – its lowest level of the year, according to the Nanos poll. The Ontario Green Party received 6.8 per cent of support in the poll.
The poll contacted 1,000 Ontarians between August 11 and 16 and asked who they would vote for locally; 864 respondents identified themselves as decided voters.
When asked about which party leader they preferred, however, Liberal Dalton McGuinty received the highest level of support with 57.5 per cent support. PC Leader Tim Hudak followed the premier with 52.5 per cent and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath held 37.5 per cent support.
Despite the dead heat between parties, McGuinty expanded his lead over Hudak as the preferred party leader.
McGuinty earned a Leadership Index Score of 57.5 based on his perceived trustworthiness, competence and vision for Ontario. Hudak received a score of 52.5. Both scores were up from the 51.3 and 50.8 that McGuinty and Hudak respectively scored in May.
The recent Nanos poll suggested that approval for Horwath had declined over the course of the summer. Her latest leadership score of 37.5 was down from the 43.5 she received in May.
Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner received a leadership score 10 per cent from those polled.
The margin of error of the Nanos poll is accurate plus or minus 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
