MQO Research spoke with 600 residents of Nova Scotia to gauge the political temperature in the province for the May edition of our quarterly political poll: Atlantic Matters.
Provincial Politics
According to the latest polling numbers, support for the governing Liberals declined in May. Among decided and leaning voters:
- Current Liberal support dropped 7 percentage points to 40%.
- PC Party support was relatively unchanged at 31%.
- NDP support increased by 6 percentage points to 23%.
- Support for the Green Party exhibited little change this quarter at 4%.
- The undecided / no vote group held steady at 42% in May.
Government Performance
Ratings for the leadership of Premier Stephen McNeil marginally decreased this quarter with a mean score of 4.8 (on a 10-point scale).
Provincial Outlook
The economic outlook for the province saw a significant decline this quarter. 36% of Nova Scotians reported that the economic outlook over the past three months had gotten worse, up from 26% in January.
Federal Politics
Federally, party support held relatively steady across all parties compared to October 2017. Among decided and leaning voters:
- Liberal support held steady at 53%.
- Conservative support was also relatively unchanged at 27%.
- NDP support held steady at 14%.
- Support for the Green Party exhibited little change at 5%.
- Ratings of government performance under Justin Trudeau continued to trend down in May with the mean rating dipping to 5.2 (down from 5.6 in October and 5.9 in April of last year).
The Atlantic Matters poll was conducted by telephone from April 17th to May 5th, 2018 and included 600 randomly selected eligible voters from across the province. The margin of error for the total sample is ± 4.0 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
About MQO Research
MQO Research is one of Atlantic Canada’s leading market research firms, providing research insights to clients throughout the region and beyond. Our team includes experts in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and program evaluation. MQO is a Gold Seal member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA) and as such subscribes to the highest standards of information gathering and research ethics in the industry in Canada.
MQO is part of Group m5, the largest communications organization in Eastern Canada. The Group m5 family of brands includes m5 Marketing Communications, m5 Public Affairs, MQO Research and Wavelight Productions.
For more information on Atlantic Matters or MQO Research, contact:
Tracey Stephenson
[email protected]
Phone: 506-852-7281
Cell: 506-850-8077