Liberal Party Maintains Lead While Support for the Green Party Slips in October

MQO Research spoke with 400 residents of Prince Edward Island to gauge the political temperature in the province for the October edition of our quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters.

Provincial Politics

According to the latest polling numbers, the Green Party experienced a significant drop in support this quarter. Among decided and leaning voters:

  • Current Liberal support edged up 4 percentage points to 43% this quarter.
  • Support for the PC Party held steady at 32%.
  • NDP support also increased by 5 percentage points to 12%.
  • Support for the Green Party slid 9 percentage points to 13% after seeing a significant jump in support throughout 2017.
  • The undecided / no vote group increased slightly to 36% in October (up from 32% last quarter).

Government Performance

Ratings for the leadership of Premier Wade MacLauchlan saw a small increase this quarter. The mean score increased from 4.9 in July to 5.3 in October.

Provincial Outlook

The economic outlook for the province held steady in October. 16% of Islanders indicated the general outlook in PEI has been getting worse over the past three months while 58% said it was about the same and 22% felt things were getting better.

Federal Politics

Federally, the Liberals continue to hold a strong lead but did exhibit a drop is support this quarter. Among decided and leaning voters:

  • Liberal support dropped 7 percentage points to 60%.
  • Conservative support held relatively steady at 25%.
  • NDP support edged up 5 percentage points to 11%.
  • Support for the Green Party remained unchanged at 5%.
  • Ratings of government performance under Justin Trudeau held steady compared to April 2017 with a mean score of 5.7.

The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10, 2017 and included 400 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the total sample is ± 4.9 percentage points 19 times out of 20. Among decided and leaning voters, the margin of error for the survey is ± 6.1 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

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