A new poll is suggesting that the Ontario Liberals could fare much better in the next election if Premier Kathleen Wynne were to step aside.
The Mainstreet Research poll found that if an election were held today, the Ontario Liberal Party could win another majority if they had a different leader.
Some 29 per cent of respondents said they would support the Liberals with a different leader, versus 21 per cent support with Wynne at the helm. That compares to current support of 35 per cent for the Progressive Conservatives versus 28 per cent if the Liberals had a different leader.
“When asked to consider an Ontario Liberal party led by someone other than Kathleen Wynne, the Liberals lead Patrick Brown's PCs by 4% including a staggering 22% lead in the 416 where a sweep is possible,” Mainstreet Research President Quito Maggi said in a release with the poll. “The bad news for current Premier and party leader Kathleen Wynne is that it is all but impossible right now with her at the helm.
The poll also found that Wynne currently holds an approval rating of just 16 per cent.
An Angus-Reid survey released Thursday found that her approval rating was slightly higher at 20 per cent, but found that she is still Canada’s least popular premier.
“As we approach the mid-term of Kathleen Wynne's mandate, it appears her own popularity lags the Liberal brand drastically,” Maggi said. “This reversal of fortunes for the once popular Wynne who outpaced her party brand in June 2014 to lead them to an unexpected Majority is quite astounding but not unprecedented in Canadian politics. It is reminiscent of other first term Premiers including Jim Prentice and Alison Redford in Alberta & Greg Selinger in Manitoba.”
The MainStreet poll surveyed 2,562 respondents on Sept. 17-18. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.94 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
