Nanos poll puts Liberals ahead of NDP

A poll conducted after Justin Trudeau announced his plans to run for Liberal leadership shows the Liberals back in second place, edging ahead of the NDP for the first time since April 2012.

A poll conducted after Justin Trudeau announced his plans to run for Liberal leadership shows the Liberals back in second place, edging ahead of the NDP for the first time since April 2012.

The poll, which was conducted by Nanos Research between Oct. 4 and Oct. 11, asked committed voters to rank their top two current local preferences. Results showed 33.3 per cent of respondents choosing Conservative, 30.1 per cent choosing Liberal and 27.9 per cent choosing NDP.

The gains came mainly in Ontario and B.C., with the Liberals edging into first spot in both those provinces, with 36.1 per cent of respondents choosing Liberal in Ontario and 40.6 per cent of respondents choosing Liberal in B.C.

But this one poll so early in the Liberal leadership race, which officially begins Nov. 14, doesn’t give the party a clear advantage, writes pollster Nik Nanos on his blog. “Many parties naturally do well during leadership races because voters can project onto a leaderless party based on the possible choices,” he writes. “One good month for the Liberals does not a trend line make. It is too early to understand the full ramifications of the Liberal leadership race.”

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