VANCOUVER

BC Liberal support builds with Christy Clark at helm

Darcy Wintonyk and Bethany Lindsay ctvbc.ca
Published Tuesday, March 22, 2011 4:34PM PDT

British Columbia Liberal Leadership candidate Christy Clark waves after being elected as the party's new leader in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday February 26, 2011. Clark replaces outgoing Premier Gordon Campbell. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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For the first time in two years, the BC Liberals have a significant lead over the opposition in popular opinion, according to the latest Angus Reid Public Opinion poll.

In results of the online survey released Tuesday, 43 per cent of 807 B.C. residents polled said they intended to vote Liberal in the next election, compared to 38 per cent who said they would support the NDP.

"This is the first time since the 2009 election they are in the lead outside of the margin of error," pollster Mario Canseco told ctvbc.ca.

Ten per cent of respondents said they would vote for the Green Party, while just five per cent intended to support the upstart BC Conservatives.

The results mark a two-per-cent jump for the BC Liberals since February, and Canseco said that proves Liberal supporters are galvanizing behind new Premier Christy Clark, who was voted in as party leader on Feb. 26.

"It shows the Liberal voter base is coming back with Christy at the helm," Canseco said.

"There was an idea that people wouldn't go for a leader like Christy and defect to the BC Conservatives, but that hasn't happened."

Support for New Democrats hasn't changed in the last month, but the opposition party is still leading with voters younger than 34 and households earning less than $50,000 per year.

"When [Gordon] Campbell was still around, the middle class and middle-aged voters were choosing the NDP because of the HST. But now those two groups are starting to come back to the BC Liberals because he's gone," Canseco said.

Still, opposition to the harmonized sales tax remains strong, with 54 per cent of those surveyed saying they'd vote to abolish it in the June 24 referendum. Thirteen per cent are still undecided.

As the NDP head for their own leadership convention next month, Mike Farnworth has cemented his position as the popular favourite with 43 per cent of respondents and 54 per cent of those who voted NDP in 2009 choosing him in the poll.

Adrian Dix was the second choice, gaining support from 27 per cent of respondents and 41 per cent of NDP voters, followed by John Horgan (23 per cent of NDP voters), Dana Larsen (17 per cent) and Nicholas Simons (nine per cent).

Angus Reid Public Opinion claims a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 per cent.