O'Leary Holds Commanding Lead In Conservative Leadership Contest

But more than a third of respondents want "someone else"

Toronto January 22nd – In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1,332 Canadian voters, Kevin O'Leary is the preferred candidate to lead the Conservative Party (27%).

Maxime Bernier is in distant second, favoured by (11%), followed by with Lisa Raitt (7%) and Michael Chong (6%).

More than a third of Canadians (38%) believe "someone else" would be a better choice to lead the Conservative Party than any of the eight identified candidates. This is down from (53%) who desired someone else in December.

For Conservative Party members O’Leary leads all leadership candidates (31%), and he has even more support with those who voted for the Conservatives in 2015 (49%).

"Kevin O'Leary's entry into the Conservative leadership race has propelled him to the front of the field, with more than double the support of his nearest rival. Still, more than a third of interested voters don't support any of the current candidates," said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.