Alberta Support For Jason Kenney’s UCP Sours, Tied With Rivals NDP
A couple of new polls from the Angus Reid Institute point to bad news for Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his governing United Conservative Party.
Amidst controversy around the province’s back-to-school plan and an uncertain future for the oil and gas industry, Kenney and his party’s favourability have crashed, leaving them tied with the rival NDP in prospective voters’ minds.
According to a poll released Monday, only 38 per cent of Alberta voters would vote for the UCP if an election were held tomorrow — identical to the 38 per cent who would vote for Rachel Notley’s NDP.
WATCH: Kenney says COVID-19 cases in Alberta schools “inevitable.” Story continues below.
That’s a sharp decline from the 55 per cent of the popular vote Kenney and the UCP took in the 2019 provincial election, which saw the United Conservative leader storm to a majority government in the province on the back of the highest voter turnout since 1982.
But three out of 10 Albertans who voted for the UCP in 2019 say they will now take their vote elsewhere, with many defecting to the Alberta Party or “Wexit”-adjacent Alberta Independence Party. Nine per cent of voters would choose the Alberta Party, while six percent would vote for the Alberta Indepence Party and seven percent would vote for a different party.
38 per cent of Alberta residents say they would support the UCP if an election were held tomorrow – remarkably putting the party in a tie with the Alberta New Democratic Party:https://t.co/wcMjd5M7B7pic.twitter.com/2IcF1DkGb2
— Angus Reid Institute (@angusreidorg) September 14, 2020
According to the pollster, the UCP’s slip likely has a lot to do with the government’s handling of the pandemic. Spurred by public battles between Health Minister Tyler Shandro and the province’s doctors and alongside a controversial back-to-school plan, three out of five Albertans said the province has done a poor job handling health care.
The poll’s authors suggested that...
