Christy Clark goes from outhouse to penthouse in popular premier poll

Just call her the comeback-kid of Canadian politics.

On Monday, pollster Angus Reid released its latest 'popular premier' poll. There's no surprise at the top of the list: Saskatchewan's Brad Wall remains Canada's most liked premier with an approval rating of 67 per cent.

But it's who's following Wall on the list that is a little more intriguing. At number two is none other than B.C. Premier Christy Clark with 45 per cent of British Columbian respondents saying that they're satisfied with her performance. That's a jump of 20 percentage points since March of this year.

Angus Reid Vice President Shachi Kurl says that these results correspond to what took place during the recent election where Clark and her Liberals won a strong majority.

"It very much reflective of that May 14th vote," she told CKNW radio.

"You see it right there popular vote for the B.C. Liberals was at 44 per cent. She's sitting at 45 per cent."

[ Related: B.C. Premier Christy Clark reverses decision to give senior staff big raises ]

Clark's turnaround should give hope to struggling politicians across the country proving that a strong campaign and more public scrutiny on 'the other guy' can lift a premier from the doldrums.

In the doldrums this quarter — according to the poll — are New Brunswick's New Brunswick's David Alward (28 per cent), Quebec's Pauline Marois (27 per cent) and Newfoundland and Labrador's Kathy Dunderdale (26 per cent).

[ More Politics: Ontario premier’s ‘giddy, girly’ makeover gets attention ]

Angus Reid also asked respondents if they approve of the performance of their province's opposition leaders.

Newfoundland and Labrador's Lorraine Michael (NDP) and Nova Scotia's Stephen McNeil (Lib) topped that list with approval ratings of 57 and 53 per cent respectively. Ontario's Andrea Horwath (NDP) also had a strong showing with an approval rating of 49 per cent.

The online survey of 6,540 Canadian adults was conducted between May 31 and June 4 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Prince Edward Island was not included in the survey.

Approval Ratings by province:

Q: Do you approve or disapprove of the performance of each of the following Premiers?

(Photo courtesy of Reuters)

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