The British Columbia Conservatives have a one-point lead in the popular vote over the NDP, according to a poll conducted by Pallas Data. Pallas Data founder and CEO Joseph Angolano said there “has been a complete sea change in British Columbia politics.”“Right-of-centre voters have left BC United and flooded to the BC Conservatives,” said Angolano in a Thursday press release. “This shift has happened because the BC Liberals changed its name to BC United.”Pallas Data found the BC Conservatives would receive 38% of the vote if an election was held now. After the Conservatives would be the NDP (37%). This was followed by United (13%) and the Greens (9%). It said there is a significant gender split. The Conservatives lead by 14% among men, but it is 10% behind the NDP among women. The age breakouts show major differences. Support for the Conservatives is highest among respondents between 18 and 34 years old and drops among older respondents, but the NDP gains support among this age group. “Despite the Conservatives having the tiniest of leads, the NDP would still win an election if it were held today with these numbers,” said Angolano.Pallas Data asked three questions measuring people’s knowledge about BC’s political parties. Angolano said it wanted to test if British Columbians understood what was going on with United and the Conservatives. Therefore, it created an index of three questions to measure political knowledge. The three questions were the Liberals will field a full slate of candidates in the upcoming election, United is the main opposition party in the legislature, and the Conservatives are a new political party in BC that will run in its first election in October.Respondents were given one point if they answered the question correctly. If respondents answered the question incorrectly, they lost a point. Zero points were awarded if they said they did not know the answer. If they received a score of three, it means they answered all of the questions correctly. Pallas Data said 61% of voters are net positives on the knowledge index, getting more questions right than wrong. One-fifth had all of the right answers. Generally, Angolano said British Columbians know the BC Liberals do not exist anymore, United is the main opposition party, and are aware of their options on the ballot in October. He pointed out the research shows there is not much brand confusion about United being the replacement to the Liberals. Instead, he said the name change “has created a branding vacuum by BC United abandoning the small-l brand.”That said, it said the NDP has a lead among respondents who received a perfect score of three, indicating it might do better during an election period where more information comes out. Angolano concluded by saying United’s support does not increase the more knowledgeable voters are. “This indicates that the hope that former BC Liberal voters would migrate to BC United once they started paying attention when the election starts is incorrect,” he said. “If anything, the NDP will benefit from the added attention, and voters become better informed, not the Liberals.”BC United leader Kevin Falcon said on Tuesday discussions are taking place in private with the Conservatives about merging together to see if they can beat the NDP. READ MORE: Kevin Falcon says he is speaking with BC Conservatives about merger“Egos need to be put aside,” said Falcon. .Falcon said these talks are about finding common ground. When it comes to names, he said the Conservatives have an advantage over United. The poll was conducted using automated telephone interviews among a sample of 848 BC adults on May 14. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The British Columbia Conservatives have a one-point lead in the popular vote over the NDP, according to a poll conducted by Pallas Data. Pallas Data founder and CEO Joseph Angolano said there “has been a complete sea change in British Columbia politics.”“Right-of-centre voters have left BC United and flooded to the BC Conservatives,” said Angolano in a Thursday press release. “This shift has happened because the BC Liberals changed its name to BC United.”Pallas Data found the BC Conservatives would receive 38% of the vote if an election was held now. After the Conservatives would be the NDP (37%). This was followed by United (13%) and the Greens (9%). It said there is a significant gender split. The Conservatives lead by 14% among men, but it is 10% behind the NDP among women. The age breakouts show major differences. Support for the Conservatives is highest among respondents between 18 and 34 years old and drops among older respondents, but the NDP gains support among this age group. “Despite the Conservatives having the tiniest of leads, the NDP would still win an election if it were held today with these numbers,” said Angolano.Pallas Data asked three questions measuring people’s knowledge about BC’s political parties. Angolano said it wanted to test if British Columbians understood what was going on with United and the Conservatives. Therefore, it created an index of three questions to measure political knowledge. The three questions were the Liberals will field a full slate of candidates in the upcoming election, United is the main opposition party in the legislature, and the Conservatives are a new political party in BC that will run in its first election in October.Respondents were given one point if they answered the question correctly. If respondents answered the question incorrectly, they lost a point. Zero points were awarded if they said they did not know the answer. If they received a score of three, it means they answered all of the questions correctly. Pallas Data said 61% of voters are net positives on the knowledge index, getting more questions right than wrong. One-fifth had all of the right answers. Generally, Angolano said British Columbians know the BC Liberals do not exist anymore, United is the main opposition party, and are aware of their options on the ballot in October. He pointed out the research shows there is not much brand confusion about United being the replacement to the Liberals. Instead, he said the name change “has created a branding vacuum by BC United abandoning the small-l brand.”That said, it said the NDP has a lead among respondents who received a perfect score of three, indicating it might do better during an election period where more information comes out. Angolano concluded by saying United’s support does not increase the more knowledgeable voters are. “This indicates that the hope that former BC Liberal voters would migrate to BC United once they started paying attention when the election starts is incorrect,” he said. “If anything, the NDP will benefit from the added attention, and voters become better informed, not the Liberals.”BC United leader Kevin Falcon said on Tuesday discussions are taking place in private with the Conservatives about merging together to see if they can beat the NDP. READ MORE: Kevin Falcon says he is speaking with BC Conservatives about merger“Egos need to be put aside,” said Falcon. .Falcon said these talks are about finding common ground. When it comes to names, he said the Conservatives have an advantage over United. The poll was conducted using automated telephone interviews among a sample of 848 BC adults on May 14. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
