Prime Minister Stephen Harper's leadership rating, specifically based on how Canadians see his level of competence, jumped significantly one day after the English-language leaders' debate, according to a new poll.

Harper scored a near 28-point jump in the Nanos Leadership Index rankings after a low-key debate that most political analysts said he won, because none of his opponents were able to rattle his calm demeanour.

Pollster Nik Nanos says the latest result is the prime minister's highest leadership ranking since the research firm first started polling on the leadership index in February 2008. The latest poll was taken before the French-language leaders' debate.

Harper's leadership ranking, at 122.8, is now more than double that of his two nearest opponents, NDP Leader Jack Layton and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

But the Conservative party didn't see an accompanying bump in popularity as a result of Harper's surging leadership rating. One explanation is that Harper could be up against "a glass ceiling," Nanos said.

"Maybe he can run a great campaign, and people acknowledge that, but it doesn't convert into the ballot box majority that he's seeking," Nanos said on CTV's Power Play.

The Conservative leader's bounce in the leadership index comes after his trustworthiness rating took a hit earlier in the week because of leaked Auditor General documents suggesting wrongdoing in Conservative government spending during the G8 summit.

The Nanos Leadership Index combines voter opinions of issues of trust, competence and each leader's vision for Canada.

On April 13, the total leadership scores for the major party leaders were: (change from April 12 in brackets)

  • Stephen Harper – 122.8 (27.9)
  • Jack Layton – 57.3 (0.2)
  • Michael Ignatieff – 52.7 (3.1)
  • Gilles Duceppe – 13.8 (-0.6)
  • Elizabeth May – 4.1 (-2.8)

On the issue of trust, the leader's scores for April 13 were: (change from April 12 in brackets)

  • Stephen Harper – 29.2 (5.5)
  • Jack Layton – 21.7 (-0.4)
  • Michael Ignatieff – 15.8 (1.7)
  • Gilles Duceppe – 6.9 (0.4)
  • Elizabeth May – 2.5 (0.3)

On the issue of competence, the leader's scores for April 13 were: (change from April 12 in brackets)

  • Stephen Harper – 48.1 (12.9)
  • Michael Ignatieff – 18.0 (0.1)
  • Jack Layton – 15.9 (2.6)
  • Gilles Duceppe – 4.5 (-1.9)
  • Elizabeth May – 0.7 (1.3)

On their vision for Canada, the leader's scores for April 13 were: (change from April 12 in brackets)

  • Stephen Harper – 40.0 (9.5)
  • Jack Layton – 20.1 (-2.0)
  • Michael Ignatieff – 18.9 (1.3)
  • Gilles Duceppe – 3.3 (0.9)
  • Elizabeth May – 0.9 (-1.8)

National numbers

The Conservatives still maintain a significant lead over the Liberals in national voting intentions, another Nanos poll suggests.

The new numbers are based on polling completed on Wednesday, one day after the English-language debate, but include results from the two previous days as well.

Following are the national results of the latest poll:

  • Conservatives: 38.9 per cent
  • Liberals: 31.1 per cent
  • NDP: 18.3 per cent
  • Bloc: 7.5 per cent
  • Greens: 3.1 per cent

Regionally, the Conservatives have seen an up tick in support in Atlantic Canada, while the NDP is trending up in Ontario and British Columbia.

Methodology: A national random telephone survey is conducted nightly by Nanos Research throughout the campaign. Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. The dailytracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample comprised of 1,200 interviews. To update the tracking a new day of interviewing is added and the oldest day dropped. The margin of error for a survey of 1,200 respondents is +/-2.8%, 19 times out of 20.

The Leadership Index poll only tracks the previous evening's results.