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Under an unnamed new leader, Liberal support rises to 29 per cent, according to the poll, as Tory support falls to 28 per cent, NDP to 16 per cent and Green to five per cent. Twenty-two per cent of voters are undecided. Liberal support is strongest in the Greater Toronto Area and downtown Toronto, where Wynne’s current majority holds most of its seats.

“The Liberal brand in Ontario is still very very strong,” Maggi said, “but (Wynne’s) own personal brand — she’s wearing all the negatives” of the long Liberal era.

He said the sale of 60 per cent of Hydro One is “so outside her nature — that particular policy — that people are sort of putting it directly on her” and, in turn, their ire over rising electricity prices.

“People are grumpy right now. There is a desire for change, but the brand is still strong. What do you do? Is there enough time to retool? How does she recast herself?” Maggi said.

Maggi said that, theoretically, a new leader often sounds better than the reality, given those who might support a new leader might not like who takes over.

Though there have been rumours of Wynne’s early departure from the premier’s office for months, Deputy Premier and Liberal campaign co-chair Deb Matthews says it’s simply not going to happen.

“She is a remarkable leader, she has the full confidence of our caucus, of the Liberal Party membership,” Matthews said. “We’ve got some work to do … but if you look historically at where governments are mid-mandate versus how they did in the election, there’s no correlation.