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With just seven months until the provincial election, the BC NDP may find itself in a comfortable but dangerous position.
According to the Latest Angus Reid poll on voter intentions, it appears that Premier David Eby’s party has a comfortable lead ahead of Kevin Falcon’s BC United and John Rustad’s BC Conservatives, plus the advantage of being the party in power. They remain the party of choice for the majority of voters when it comes to addressing key issues in British Columbia, even though a majority of respondents say they do not feel the provincial government has met expectations when it comes to improving the cost of living and access to medical care.
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As for party leaders, Eby still leads with the highest approval compared to Falcon and Rustad.
Although Eby’s approval levels still don’t match those of his predecessor (John Horgan maintained personal approval ratings that stayed firmly in majority territory for much of his tenure), Eby has maintained an approval rating between 46 and 48 percent. for more than a year. .
Falcón, despite increasing a few percentage points, remains with 21 percent approval, while Rustad remains with 22 percent approval.
Meanwhile, Eby’s approval is highest in the Greater Vancouver region (54 per cent), but he maintains strong support in the Lower Mainland/Fraser Valley (41 per cent) and the Island and North Shore region ( 49 percent). Falcón is more consistent across the province, with approval ratings between 19 and 25 per cent in all areas, while Rustad has a low 16 per cent approval rating in Metro Vancouver but a high 33 per cent in the Interior and the North.
Although voters are more likely to say the provincial government has done a poor job on key issues identified as priorities (such as climate change, health care, street crime, the cost of living and housing affordability), the British Columbia. The NDP remains the first option to continue governing.
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About 40 percent of respondents say the Eby-led NDP remains their choice to address health care issues, while just 14 percent would opt for Falcon’s BC United and 15 percent would choose the Conservative Party. provincial. About 25 percent are not convinced either side will act.
When it comes to the cost of living, the BC NDP is also the best choice (33 per cent) to address that issue head-on, while only 16 per cent believe Falcon’s United and 18 per cent think the Conservative Party of Rustad could make a dent in the cost. -life issues.
While the BC NDP appears to be riding a positive wave heading into the fall election, with 43 per cent of respondents saying they plan to vote NDP, it may not take much to topple Eby’s party. This is especially true if Falcon and Rustad can reach an agreement to merge their parties and combine the 22 percent of voters who plan to vote for the Conservatives and the 22 percent who intend to vote for the party formerly known as the liberals.
The motivation, however, is not entirely simple. The survey found that 55 per cent of voters who support the NDP do so because they really like the party and what it represents; however, 45 percent support the NDP because they simply dislike the other options more.
The survey was conducted online from February 28 to March 6, 2024, and analyzed responses from a representative random sample of 809 British Columbia adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. For comparison, a probability sample of this size has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points, 19 out of 20 times.
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