Kevin O’Leary Still Preferred by Conservatives for Leader

MacKay and Ambrose also place

TORONTO May 13th, 2016 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1517 Canadian voters, those who will vote Conservative if an election were held today are most likely to select reality TV star Kevin O’Leary as the best choice for party leader (27%), followed closely by former serial cabinet minister Peter MacKay (23%). Somewhat fewer opt for current interim leader Rona Ambrose (16%). Maxime Bernier and Jason Kenney are the choice of fewer than a tenth of party voters (6% each), and few opt for Kellie Leitch (3%) or Lisa Raitt (2%).

Among the entire population of voters, Peter MacKay is preferred (18%) to O’Leary (14%) or Ambrose (11%). The largest single group of voters says someone else should have the job (35%).

Among our very small sample of those who claim to be Conservative Party members, O’Leary is even more strongly preferred (23%) to MacKay (16%) or to Bernier (11%) or Ambrose (12%).

Since we polled this question last month, enthusiasm for Mr O’Leary has grown among Conservative voters (April 6 O’Leary - 24%, MacKay - 22%.), while among members, enthusiasm for the erstwhile Dragon has diminished (O’Leary - 28%, MacKay - 20%).

“The Conservatives want to pick a winner, and it looks like they think Kevin O’Leary may be their chicken dinner. He’s at least competitive among voters at large, and the closer you get to the Conservative heart, the more popular he is,” 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.