BC Liberals make gains, but BC NDP still lead polls in Lower Mainland

As election day nears, Liberals are making gains but the NDP continues to lead in the Lower Mainland, according to the latest poll by Mainstreet/Postmedia.

The poll, which surveyed a random sample of 1,650 British Columbians from April 29 to May 1, found that 35% of respondents would vote for the NDP, 31% said they would vote for the Liberals, and 17% sided with the Greens.

According to Quito Maggi, president of Mainstreet Research, keeping support in the Lower Mainland is crucial for the NDP.

“As the race tightens, the NDP must defend their lead in the lower mainland if they are to have a chance at forming government. The Greens continue to be a problem for them on Vancouver Island, and if the race tightens up a few more points in the Lower Mainland, Liberal incumbents will once again be within reach of re-election,” said Maggi.

The NDP holds the lead in the Lower Mainland while the Liberals have made gains in the Interior (Mainstreet/Postmedia)

This week, the Liberals gained support in the Interior and the North, but according to Maggi, voters still aren’t warming up to Christy Clark.

“The backdrop to all this is voters still don’t like Christy Clark. John Horgan’s negatives have risen faster than his positives leaving him with a bare +1 net approval score,” said Maggi.

“While voters have good impressions of Andrew Weaver – not enough of them may vote for his party on election day in a concentrated enough manner for a large number of new seats. It is an election of contradictions and today we cannot  predict how this one ends.”

See also

• BC NDP leader John Horgan: I believe that people want change
• BC Greens leader Andrew Weaver: We’re giving people something to vote for
• Almost 4% of registered voters have already voted in BC Election 2017