Incumbent NDP Is Feeling The Pressure As Election Battle Tightens To 45-44!

The incumbent NDP is feeling the pressure as the upstart Conservative Party of BC makes gains in key Vancouver battlegrounds as overall race between the two front-running parties tightens. New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds the parties in a statistical tie as the first week of formal campaigning kicks off, with 45 per cent of British Columbians saying they will support the BC NDP and 44 per cent voicing intention to vote for the BC Conservatives. Eby holds an eight-point advantage over Rustad on the question of who would be best premier.

By PD Raj – Senior Reporter DESIBUZZCanada

SURREY – The incumbent NDP is feeling the pressure as the upstart Conservative Party of BC makes gains in key Vancouver battlegrounds as overall race between the two front-running parties tightens. 

With BC’s 43rd general election campaign into its first week, a clearer picture is emerging of the extent to which the incumbent BC NDP is facing a much tougher fight to earn another term.

New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds the parties in a statistical tie as the first week of formal campaigning kicks off, with 45 per cent of British Columbians saying they will support the BC NDP and 44 per cent voicing intention to vote for the BC Conservatives.

But it is the story of key battleground regions, particularly in and around the vote-rich suburbs of Metro Vancouver and on Vancouver Island that frames the early stages of this electoral battle.

Comparisons to the main party standings regionally between 2020 and this year’s campaign show that the BC NDP has either remained consistent or declined slightly over the last four years in all regions. The difference this time around is that their competition has cauterized a more significant portion of the vote. While the BC Conservatives have subsumed the BC United/BC Liberal vote, the party also benefits from 30 per cent of 2020 Green Party voters joining its ranks. This outpaces the number who have left the Greens for the BC NDP (22%).

On core issues, the NDP are currently seen as better to handle health care (+12 over BCC) while the BC Conservatives are trusted more with economic growth (+10) and neighbourhood safety (+14). On housing affordability, British Columbians give neither the NDP nor the Conservatives an edge.

Many British Columbians will be getting to know the provincial leaders better in the coming weeks and momentum will be key. 

Leaders David Eby and John Rustad have both generated more negative than positive impressions from British Columbians in recent weeks, while the same is true, to a smaller extent, of the lesser-known Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau.

More Key Findings:

Half of British Columbians say John Rustad holds views that are “too extreme” for him to be premier, while one-in-three (34%) disagree with this statement. More than two-in-five undecided voters (44%) say his views are too extreme.

Asked about recent policy reversals (increasing mandatory treatment, removing consumer carbon tax) 43 per cent of British Columbians say David Eby is making purely political calculations, rather than earnest changes based on listening to constituents (17%). That said, three-in-10 (31%) say both are partially true.

British Columbians appear to support the BC NDP carbon tax proposal more than the BC Conservative alternative. Seven-in-10 (70%) say they support removing the consumer carbon tax but keeping the tax on industry emitters, while 47 per cent say they are supportive of eliminating the tax completely.

Eby holds an eight-point advantage over Rustad on the question of who would be best premier.