Calgary Herald

-

Alberta Tories slide, Wildrose gains in new poll
Calgary Herald

Just days before Premier Ed Stelmach’s party leadership review, a new poll shows the governing Tories have sunk to their lowest level of popular support in 16 years, barely ahead of the Wildrose Alliance as the preferred party among decided Alberta voters.

An independent survey of 1,000 adult Albertans (840 decided voters) conducted by Environics Research Group, and provided exclusively to the Herald, reveals the Wildrose Alliance has firmly cemented itself in second place provincewide — and have overtaken the dynastic Tories as the favoured party in Calgary.

The telephone poll, conducted Oct. 19 to 31, finds that 34 per cent of decided voters would cast a ballot for Stelmach and his Conservatives if an election were held today, compared to 28 per cent for the fledgling Wildrose Alliance and new leader Danielle Smith.

Stelmach’s Tories have slipped 21 points in the polls over the last year and it’s the PCs’ lowest level of popular support since December 1993, when they dipped to 32 per cent, according to Environics pollster Tony Coulson.

In Calgary — long seen as Tory bedrock–the Wildrose party has surged to first, with 34 per cent backing, followed by the PCs at 30 per cent, Liberals at 20 per cent, and NDP and Greens at eight per cent.

Bookmark and Share