P.E.I. federal Liberals stop sliding support in opinion poll

Support on P.E.I. for the federal Liberals is no longer sliding downward, according to a new poll.

Past MQO polls show a bump in support for the Liberals in January was short-lived. Support dropped 12 points from January to April to 40 per cent. The most recent poll, conducted between July 31 and Aug. 6, showed that support is now holding steady at 40 per cent.

Support for the curent Liberal government peaked at 67 per cent in April 2017.

Support for the Conservative Party remains roughly the same since the April poll. The August poll had them at 34 per cent.

The Greens edged up slightly to 21 per cent and the NDP fell slightly to four per cent. The People's Parety support remained under one per cent.

The poll found 27 per cent of Islanders undecided.

Chris Wattie/Reuters, Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
Chris Wattie/Reuters, Justin Tang/The Canadian Press

The margin of error among decided voters was 5.7 percentage points.

"The Liberals have lost nearly 10 points since May 2018," said Stephen Moore, vice president at MQO Research in a news release.

"The Green Party is the beneficiary."

MQO Research spoke with 400 Islanders by phone to gauge the political taste in the province.

Who should lead?

The poll also asked about the preference of federal leaders.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has a 10 per cent lead as the preferred leader of Canada. The margin of error in this section of the poll is 5.8 percentage points.

In the release Moore said Trudeau's personal brand has rebounded on P.E.I.

"He is now polling on par with the Liberal Party — that's good news for the governing Liberals ahead of the election."

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