Conservative attack ads suggesting Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is “in over his head” continue to backfire, according to a new public opinion poll.

The poll by Forum Research found that close to half (46 per cent) of the 1,572 Canadian voters surveyed had seen the negative ads, which first appeared last year.

Of those who’d seen the ads, about half (47 per cent) said the ads are more likely to make them vote Liberal. Only one fifth or less of respondents said the ads would make them vote for any other party — 20 per cent said Conservative and 17 per cent said NDP.

With the “he’s in over his head” tagline, the television ads feature clips including one where Trudeau removes his shirt for a charity event. A narrator asks whether Trudeau has the judgment to be prime minister.

Among the survey respondents who’d previously voted Conservative, as many as one quarter (22 per cent) say the ads will likely make them vote Liberal.

Among respondents who previously voted NDP, about half (46 per cent) said the ads are likely to make them vote Liberal.

“These negative ads suggesting the Liberal leader is inexperienced backfired the last time they were aired, and they’re backfiring again,” Forum Research president Lorne Bozinoff said in a statement.

“The ads seem to have the effect of reinforcing whatever image you hold of Justin Trudeau, whether positive or negative, and among those whose image is positive, (the ads) are very powerful at generating support,” Bozinoff added.

In the year since he took over as leader of the Liberal Party, three in 10 Canadians say their opinion of Trudeau has improved (29 per cent) while one quarter (24 per cent) say it has grown worse, the Forum survey found.

As has been the case since Trudeau became leader of the Liberals, his party continues to enjoy about a 10 per cent advantage over the Conservatives in the Forum polls, 39 per cent to 30 per cent — numbers that haven’t changed since last month.

The NDP sit at 20 per cent, down slightly from last month’s 22 per cent support.

Comparing the party leaders, Forum found that 30 per cent of respondents said Justin Trudeau would make the best Prime Minister, followed by 25 per cent who opt for Stephen Harper.

NDP leader Tom Mulcair had 17 per cent support on this question, while Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May drew 10 per cent support on the question.

The poll was conducted between April 28 and 29 based on an interactive voice response telephone survey of randomly selected Canadians 18 years of age and older.

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Results based on the total sample are considered accurate plus or minus 2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Similar to most pollsters, Forum uses a proprietary weighting formula — which has been shared with the Toronto Star — to more accurately reflect the broader electorate.

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