Governing Liberals Maintain Lead in New Brunswick

MQO Research’s quarterly poll of 600 residents of New Brunswick gauged the political temperature in the province for this July edition of the quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters.

Provincial Politics

According to the latest polling numbers, support for all political parties held steady in July with the exception of the NDP which saw a slight drop.

  • Among decided and leaning voters:
    • Current Liberal support in the province sits at 45%, which is on par with April.
    • PC party support held steady at 35%.
    • NDP support was down from 15% in April to 10% this quarter.
  • The percent of undecided/don’t know group is now at 26% in the latest poll which is down from 33% last quarter.

Government Performance

The public’s assessment of Premier Brian Gallant’s overall leadership held relatively steady again in July with a mean rating of 5.2 (on a 10-point scale). Meanwhile, the percentage rating the Premier’s performance a 1-5 (on a 10-point scale) sits at 54% which was on par with April.

Provincial Outlook

New Brunswick residents’ outlook for the province held relatively steady showing some positive signs in July. 26% felt the outlook was getting worse, down from 31% in July, while 54% said it had remained the same and 16% said the province’s outlook was looking better, compared to 12% last quarter.

Personal Wellbeing

New Brunswickers remain concerned about their personal situations, but slightly less so than in April. Overall, 43% rated their concern about the cost of living quite high at 8-10 on a scale of 1-10 which trended down from 48% in April. When asked about their general stress level this year, 24% gave a rating of 8 or higher on a scale of 1-10 which was down from 31% three months earlier.

The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from July 6 to July 24, 2017 and included 600 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the survey is ± 4.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Among decided and leaning voters, the margin of error for the survey is ± 5.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20.

About MQO Research

MQO Research is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading market research firms, providing research insights to clients throughout the region and beyond. Our team includes experts in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and program evaluation. MQO is a Gold Seal member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) and as such subscribes to the highest standards of information gathering and research ethics in the industry in Canada.

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For more information on Atlantic Matters or MQO Research, contact:
Tracey Stephenson
[email protected]
Phone: 506-852-7281
Cell: 506-850-8077