The Nova Scotia government's most recent budget and its fight with the public sector unions and the film industry seems to have had little long-term effect on the popularity of Premier Stephen McNeil and his Liberal government.

According to the results of a poll by Corporate Research Associates released Wednesday, satisfaction with the current Liberal government remains roughly what it was in May.

Fifty-four per cent of those surveyed were either completely satisfied or mostly satisfied with the overall performance of the McNeil government, compared to 50 per cent in May.

The change is roughly within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

McNeil also remains the preferred choice as premier and the Liberals are also well ahead of the pack in popularity.

Don Mills, the CEO of Corporate Research Associates, said overall these are favourable numbers for the governing Liberals given the media coverage on the fight over the film tax credit changes and the showdown with the unions.

"Pretty positive numbers on the performance side. Majority satisfied with the performance of the government," he said Wednesday.

"Their numbers, in terms of voting intentions, have stayed very stable over the last little while and are comfortably ahead of the other parties. Premier's personal popularity doesn't seem to have taken much of a hit in the last quarter. They don't appear to be too hurt by what's happened in those areas."

Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party has maintained its support after a surge in the last quarter. According to the latest poll, three in 10 Nova Scotians prefer the party.

The only major change is in the popularity of Progressive Conservative Leader Jamie Baillie.

In May, 18 per cent of those asked picked him as their preferred choice for premier. In this poll, he's the top choice of only 12 per cent of respondents.

Although things aren't so sunny for the leader of the Official Opposition, the nice weather in August may have also aided the party in power, according to Mills.

"The good weather this summer, I think, has helped them too — because I think people are generally in a good mood," he said.