B.C. NDP favoured in spite of overwhelming disapproval of snap election, according to poll

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The majority (58 per cent) of British Columbians disapprove of Premier John Horgan’s decision to call an early election, according to a new poll from Insights West. The poll found that 30 per cent of respondents strongly oppose the snap election called for Oct. 24, while 27 per cent are somewhat opposed.

Despite the antipathy to an election being held a year early and in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the poll indicates Horgan’s NDP remains the party of choice among British Columbians.

If the election was held tomorrow, 42 per cent of decided voters said they would vote NDP, ahead of 29 per cent for the Liberals, 16 per cent for the Greens and 12 per cent for the B.C. Conservatives.

Just 35 per cent of NDP supporters are opposed to the early election call — with only seven per cent strongly opposed, compared with 77 per cent of Liberal voters and 73 per cent of Green voters who disapprove of it.

The Insights West poll was conducted Sept. 22-23 among a sample of 1,000 B.C. residents. The margin of error is plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.