PCs hold strong lead in N.S. despite declining support, new poll finds

The governing party in Nova Scotia continues to enjoy strong support, although satisfaction with the Tim Houston government has slipped.

That’s according to a new survey from Narrative Research looking into Nova Scotians’ opinions of provincial political parties.

The poll finds 44 per cent of respondents say they’re satisfied with the government’s performance — down from 52 per cent in February. Nearly half of respondents, 48 per cent, told Narrative they are dissatisfied, up from 40 per cent.

“Satisfaction levels vary across the province with satisfaction highest in mainland N.S. outside Halifax, and lowest in Cape Breton,” Narritive wrote in a news release. “Dissatisfaction is higher among those 18 to 34 years old than those older.”

Despite those findings, the survey also finds the PCs remain far ahead of the opposition on voter intention.

It says 50 per cent of decided voters would vote PC if an election happened today, while 23 per cent would vote Liberal and 22 per cent would vote NDP.

Tim Houston also remains the top choice for premier, according to the data. Narrative says 34 per cent of respondents prefer Houston., whereas NDP leader Claudia Chender was at 16 per cent, and the Liberals’ Zach Churchill 15 per cent.

Narrative says the data comes from a sample of 400 adult Nova Scotians with overall results accurate to within ±4.9 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.