Poll: Greek conservatives overtake radical left Syriza party ahead of election

Outgoing Greek Prime Minister and the Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras, second right, sits next to Regional Government of Attica Rena Dourou at a gathering of his party members in Athens, on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. (AP / Petros Giannakouris)

ATHENS, Greece -- A new opinion poll suggests that Greece's former governing radical left party has dropped marginally behind the main opposition conservatives in popularity, for the first time since it gained power in January.

Greeks vote in parliamentary elections Sept. 20. The GPO poll for private Mega TV published Wednesday gives conservative New Democracy 25.3 per cent, compared to 25 per cent for Syriza. The nationwide phone poll of 1,000 people conducted Aug. 31-Sept. 2 gave a 3 per cent margin of error.

Another poll earlier Wednesday gave Syriza a lead of 0.4 percentage points.

Syriza's leader, former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, resigned last month -- just seven months into his mandate -- after a revolt by hardliners in his party seeking a stronger mandate to implement the terms of Greece's third international bailout.