Liberals, NDP gain ground, but PCs maintain strong lead: poll

The Ontario election is less than six weeks away, and a new poll suggests the Liberals and NDP have gained some ground among voters, but the Progressive Conservatives are still holding a strong lead.

The Mainstreet Research poll, which was conducted April 16-18, says Doug Ford’s party has the support of 44.9 per cent of decided voters — that’s more than 16 per cent ahead of Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, who are in second place with 28.2 per cent.

The NDP is in third place with 21.3 per cent followed by the Green part at four per cent.

The Mainstreet poll that was done after the Liberals’ budget at the start of the month had the PCs at just over 50 per cent support.

“We are not surprised to see the PCs come down in support from our previous poll,” said Quito Maggi, the CEO of Mainstreet Research. “They have surrendered their lead in Toronto to the Liberals, but there is no doubt that the PCs will be starting the campaign as the frontrunners.”

The poll also found that the PCs have leading by a large margin in every part of Ontario, except Toronto. In the city, the Liberals have 37.6 per cent support of all voters, while the PCs have 30 per cent.

The NDP gained a bit of ground since the last Mainstreet poll, with more respondents saying they have a favourable opinion of its leader Andrea Horwath. Mainstreet says her net favourability rating has increased by six points to 14 per cent.

While Wynne’s favourability rating has increased by 10 points, her net rating remains -35.6 per cent, while Ford’s is -6.5 per cent.

The latest survey polled 1,763 voters using automated telephone interviews. The margin of error is +/- 2.33% and is accurate 19 times out of 20.

Mainstreet Ontario Apr30 by Mainstreet on Scribd

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