Introduction
After less than a year and a half in office, the Alberta NDP have returned to pre-election levels of support while Albertans express strong interest in a “unite the right’ party that focuses on practical solutions.
Between October 25th and November 1st, 2016, Innovative Research Group Inc. placed live calls to landline and cell telephones among 646 randomly-selected Alberta residents, 18 years of age and older. The sample has been weighted by age, gender and region using the latest available data, 2011 Census, to reflect the actual demographic composition of the population. Using this technique ensures that almost every Albertan has a known probability of being reached which allows us to apply traditional margins of error to the results. The margin of error is approximately +4.0%, 19 times out of 20.
Key Findings:
- PC Party leading: When we ask voters which of Alberta’s six main parties they are likely to vote for, we find the PC party leads with 39%, the Wildrose comes second at 25%, the Liberals and NDP are tied for third at 14% while the Greens and Alberta party trail at 5% and 2% respectively.
- NDP Government in deep trouble: While three years is a very long time in politics, the NDP have a very steep hill to climb. Close to half of Albertans (45%) say they would never vote for the NDP while 61% say the the most important thing in the next election is to defeat the NDP.
- Strong support for uniting the right: A strong majority (60%) of Albertans agree the best way to defeat the NDP is for the PC Party and Wildrose to unite. There are even higher percentages agreement among PC (69%) and Wildrose (78%) supporters. More than 4-in-10 (44%) are at least very likely to vote for this party and another 26% are somewhat likely to vote for a “unite the right” party.
- A “unite the right” party should focus on practical solutions: Given a choice, 78% of Albertans would want a “unite the right” party to focus on practical solutions over true Conservatives values. Both PC (80%) and Wildrose (76%) supporters agree with this sentiment.
For questions about this survey or for more information about Innovative’s subscription briefing service for public affairs, please contact Greg Lyle at glyle@innovativeresearch.ca.
