CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Dennis King’s Progressive Conservatives are still the top choice among Island voters, based on a new opinion poll from Narrative Research.
The telephone opinion poll, conducted between Aug. 4 and 19, found the PCs to be the top choice of 48 per cent of decided voters. This is down from 54 per cent public support in May, but up slightly from 45 per cent in February.
Public support for the provincial Green party rose three points from May, from 22 to 25 per cent, while support for the provincial Liberals remained relatively constant at 23 per cent, up from 22 per cent in May.
Support for the NDP stood at four per cent. Almost one-fifth of Islanders (19 per cent) stated they were undecided in their party preference, while six per cent refused to state a preference and three per cent said they did not plan to vote in the next election.
Significantly, 85 per cent of voters said they were either completely or mostly satisfied with the performance of PC Premier Dennis King. This is down slightly from 92 per cent in May but is close to the level of voter satisfaction prior to the beginning of the pandemic. A February poll by Narrative Research found 81 per cent of voters were either completely or mostly satisfied with the performance of the King government.
King also ranked the highest among preferred party leaders and was selected as the top choice of 45 per cent of Islanders. This was down from 53 per cent in May 2020.
Green leader Peter Bevan-Baker was the top choice of 26 per cent of those polled, up from 21 per cent in May 2020. Liberal interim leader Sonny Gallant was top choice of nine per cent of voters, the same margin from May.
Outgoing NDP leader Joe Byrne was the top choice of three per cent of voters, while 14 per cent of Islanders said they did not have a preferred party leader.
The telephone poll was conducted with a sample of 301 Islanders. The overall margin of error was 5.7 per cent, 95 times out of 100. On the questions of party preference, 216 respondents said they were decided voters. The margin of error for this question was 6.7 per cent, 95 times out of 100.
Similar polls were released in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick last week. Sixty-nine per cent of voters were either completely or mostly satisfied with the performance of the Dwight Ball Liberals in Newfoundland and Labrador, while 76 per cent of voters were satisfied with the PC government of Premier Blaine Higgs in New Brunswick.
New Brunswick voters go to the polls on Sept. 14.
