A new poll suggests the BC New Democrats have become the most popular party in the province, with centre-right voters split between the governing Liberals and the re-surfacing Conservative party.

Forty per cent of respondents in the Angus Reid poll, released one year after former premier Gordon Campbell announced his resignation, said they will support their local NDP candidate in the next election.

Support for the BC Liberals, meanwhile, has dropped 12 points to 31 per cent – and pollster Mario Canseco said the BC Conservative Party has made clear gains from the plunge.

"What we see in the survey is a split in the centre-right vote," Canseco said. "A lot of people who voted for the Liberals last time have moved to the Conservatives."

The Conservatives saw 18 per cent support in the latest poll, the party's best showing ever recorded in an Angus Reid survey.

The BC Greens remain in fourth place with eight per cent support.

Despite the NDP gains, sitting Premier Christy Clark still holds a six-point advantage over her NDP rival Adrian Dix, Canseco said. Clark was the preferred premier, with 25 per cent of respondents.

"[Dix] is definitely connecting on health care and education, he's not doing that well on the economy," Canseco said. "He needs to talk about what the NDP government might do as far as finances if they win the next election."

Dix was the only candidate whose support has increased since the last poll, Canseco added. The NDP leader moved up a single per cent to 19 per cent, while Clark's standing represents a 27 per cent drop.

The BC Conservatives still have a challenge ahead of them, Canseco added, since many voters are either unfamiliar with leader John Cummins, or have not made up their minds about him.

"People are mad at the Liberals and they're looking for another centre-right alternative, but they don't even know who the Conservative leader is," Canseco said.

Only nine per cent of respondents named Cummins as their preferred premier. Green Party Leader Jane Sterk was the favoured candidate of two per cent.

The poll also found men virtually split between the Liberals and NDP, at 36 and 35 per cent support, respectively, while women leaned heavily to the opposition party; 45 per cent pledged support for the New Democrats, while only 26 said they back the Liberals.