HALIFAX—Support for the governing Nova Scotia Liberals has fallen behind the opposition heading into a spring byelection, according to a new poll.

MQO Research’s Atlantic Matters poll of 600 Nova Scotians, conducted earlier this month and released Monday, says the Liberals are now trailing the Progressive Conservatives after support dropped 11 percentage points from February to 30 per cent.

The PCs now stand at 38 per cent support, an increase of 5 percentage points, and support for the NDP is down 1 percentage point to 18 per cent. The Green Party also saw a jump of 5 percentage points, rising to 12 per cent.

“The Liberals lost support to both the PC Party and the Green Party in Nova Scotia,” Stephen Moore, vice president with MQO Research and former communications director for Premier Stephen McNeil, said in a news release.

“The real problem for the governing Liberals is that they are losing support in (Halifax Regional Municipality) — their traditional fortress.”

Those polled earlier this month were asked, “If a provincial election were held today, which party would you most likely vote for?” The results include decided and leaning voters, and 45 per cent said they were undecided, up 5 percentage points from the quarter before.

There is no general election on the immediate horizon, with the next likely to come in 2021, but there is a byelection next month.

The upcoming byelection is set for June 18 in the riding of Sackville-Cobequid in HRM. The riding is an NDP stronghold, held by the party since the mid-1980s until former MLA Dave Wilson stepped down last fall.

Lara Fawthrop is running for the NDP, Michel Hindlet is running for the Liberals, current Sackville Councillor Steve Craig is running for the PCs, Anthony Edmonds is running for the Green Party, and David F. Boyd is running for the Atlantica Party.

Those polled by MQO were also asked, “How would you rate the overall leadership of Premier Stephen McNeil?” On a scale of one to 10, McNeil’s rating was 4.2, down 0.5 from February. Sixty-nine per cent of those polled answered between one and five.

MQO also asked, “Based on your personal experiences over the past three months, would you say that the general outlook in NS has been getting …” worse, about the same, better, or don’t know?

Up 8 percentage points from February, 43 per cent said worse. Forty-two per cent said about the same, 12 per cent said better, and 2 per cent said they don’t know.

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MQO polled 600 randomly-selected eligible voters in Nova Scotia between May 3 and May 13.

A sample of this size will represent the views of the population within 4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. However, the wording of the questions, the composition of the sample and problems in tabulation can introduce larger errors into the finals results.

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