TORONTO – New research shows that recent political blunders within the Conservative Party may be taking a toll on Harper’s popularity.
A Nanos Research survey shows that support for Prime Minister Stephen Harper has dropped significantly in the past few months.
The survey, conducted between April 13 and 18, asked Canadians who they thought was the most trustworthy party leader.
Harper and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair are tied with 20 per cent and 19.5 per cent of the vote respectively. However, support for Harper plunged since February when 31.7 per cent of respondents chose him as the most trustworthy. Meanwhile, support for Mulcair as the most trustworthy leader rose nearly 13 percentage points.
Nationally, the Conservatives and NDP are in a statistical tie, with 34.7 per cent of Canadians saying they would vote Tory if a federal election were to be held, followed closely by the NDP at 32.4 per cent.
Support for the NDP has risen across the country since a February survey when only 25 per cent of respondents said they would vote orange if an election were called.
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The Liberal Party trails at 23.3 per cent and the Green Party and the Bloc Quebecois come in at 4.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively. Nearly 19 per cent of voters said they were undecided.
Recent scandals, including allegations of robocalls during last year’s federal election, mishandling of the F-35 file and Bev Oda’s swanky hotel bill, have added up in the collective consciousness, say pollsters.
“With relatively stable Tory ballot support, the research suggests that recent controversies have likely had a negative impact on the Harper brand,” said Nik Nanos in a post on his website.
He added that the April 2012 index score for Harper is the lowest the Prime Minister has received since Nanos launched the Leadership Index.
Harper’s competence score also dropped sharply, from 38.1 per cent who thought he was the most competent party leader in a February survey, to 24.2 per cent.
Note: Study findings were compiled via a national random telephone survey of 1,200 Canadians 18 years of age and older. The survey was completed between April 13 and 18, 2012. The statistics of a random sample of 1,200 respondents is accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20. Readers should note that the data was weighted for gender and age to match the Canadian census results.
— With files from Postmedia News
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