Poll suggests support for PCs has ‘collapsed,’ Ford now less popular than Wynne

Shrinking PC popularity ‘is not normal:’ expert Political scientist Nelson Wiseman says that Premier Doug Ford's honeymoon period appears to be over.

Support for the Progressive Conservatives has “collapsed,” according to a new poll, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford is now less popular than Kathleen Wynne at the end of her time as Premier.

A Mainstreet Research poll released on Thursday puts the PCs in third place behind the Liberals and the NDP, with just 22.4 per cent of decided and leaning voters saying they would cast a ballot for the party if an election were held today.

The poll found that 39.9 per cent of decided and leaning voters would support the Liberals, who are without a permanent leader, and 24.2 per cent would vote for the NDP under Andrea Horwath.

In contrast, the PC’s won a majority government during the June 2018 election with 40.5 per cent of the popular vote while the NDP netted 33.6 per cent and the Liberals sunk to 19.6 per cent.

The Mainstreet poll also found that just 19.9 per cent of respondents say they have a favourable opinion of Ford, while 73.4 per cent say they have a negative opinion of the premier.

“His support is collapsing,” says Quito Maggi, President and CEO of Mainstreet Research, in a statement. “We have never seen an incumbent premier reach these depths in popular opinion with barely a year into his mandate.”

Ford’s government has been suffering severe blowback in the wake of its April 11 budget, which reduced funding to cities, health agencies and libraries while also cutting a number of programs such as the 50 Million Trees initiative.

A number of public opinion polls have shown the party’s support has been waning as the government faces weekly protests and days of actions from teachers and health care workers.

An Environics poll published on Tuesday, commissioned by CUPE Ontario and CUPE Local 79, found that seven out of 10 Ontarians say they’re less likely to vote for the PCs due to budget cuts.

A Pollara survey issued last week found support for the Progressive Conservatives had dropped to 30 per cent.

The Progressive Conservative government appears to be staying the course and paying little attention to the polls.

“I think the population elected us on a mandate to make life affordable, to return our fiscal house to order and to protect the services that matter to them,” said MPP Stephen Lecce.

“If we do that, if we fulfill our word in the next four years I’m convinced that people of Ontario will look back knowing that we have followed our word, we’ve done what we have said we were going to do, and we’ve made this province stronger, more prosperous.”

Mainstreet Research surveyed 996 Ontarians between May 21 and May 22. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points and is accurate 19 times out of 20.

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