Liberals gain ground, but NDP support remains steady

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Has Christy Clark finally begun turning the ship around?    
    
The latest polling numbers suggest the Liberals are making something of a comeback just five months ahead of the provincial election.
    
Ipsos-Reid says the premier and company have jumped up six points in the past six months, to take 35 per cent of decided voters.
    
That all sounds impressive until you realize this is all at the expense of John Cummins and the BC Conservatives, who have dropped seven points to just nine per cent support.
    
“I think it could actually be argued that it’s not the Liberals taking support from the Conservatives, but it’s the Conservatives imploding and handing support back to the BC Liberals,” explains Kyle Braid with Ipsos.  “But the BC Liberals still haven’t pulled any support from the New Democrats.”
    
In fact, NDP support remains steady, as the party now enjoys a commanding 48 per cent lead.
    
The Liberals continue to trail among women too.
    
“They’re actually doing pretty well with men, it’s a competitive race with men but they, in all of our last few polls, have been somewhere in the 25 to 35 points behind with women,” Braid says. “So, obviously the Liberals need to pull up with women if they plan to have any chance of winning the next election.”
    
If there is one bright spot for the governing party, it’s perceptions on how it’s handling the economy.
    
“Right now, almost six in 10 British Columbians think the economy is in good shape,” he adds.

“That represents a strength for the Liberals but clearly they need to do a better job of connecting their own record with the strength in the economy and they need to create some sort of a risk of a switch if the NDP comes in power,”  Braid explains.
    
Braid says they haven’t managed to do that yet but predicts that will be their major challenge over the next few months.
    
British Columbians head to the polls May 14, 2013.

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