Poll shows BC Conservatives making gains in battleground regions

An Angus Reid poll has found that the BC Conservatives are making gains in battleground regions while the Greens continue to bleed support from the ruling NDP.The BC NDP, on the other hand, have fallen in areas they won comfortably last time around opening up the middle for the surging Conservatives.In 2020, the BC Liberals managed to garner 30% of the vote in the City of Vancouver and Burnaby, 32% in Richmond and Surrey, and 40% in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Langley, and Coquitlam. According to the poll, those numbers have jumped to 33%, 42%, and 49%, respectively for the Conservatives now that the Liberals have ceded the field.While the NDP is still ahead in the first two regions, the party gained only one point in Vancouver and Burnaby and lost five points in Richmond and Surrey. In Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Langley, and Coquitlam, Premier David Eby's crew lost four points, coming in 7% below the Conservatives.The Conservatives also made double digit gains on Vancouver Island and the North Coast, coming in at 38% to the BC Liberals' 22%. The NDP lost three points in those areas, going from 49% in 2020 to 46% in 2024.Both parties garnered more support this time around in the Interior and Fraser Valley. The NDP jumped three points to 33% and ten points to 38%, respectively, while the Conservatives rose by eight points in each area, coming in at 56% and 52%.Of those who voted BC Liberals in 2020, 75% said they would be casting ballots for the Conservatives in October, while 16% of NDP voters and 30% of Green voters said they would be shifting their support to John Rustad's party.Among all 1,215 respondents, the Conservatives and NDP were tied at 35%, with 19% saying they had not yet decided who to vote for.When asked whether they viewed Eby's recent flip-flops on the carbon tax and involuntary care as politically motivated or a response to changing attitudes in BC, 43% said the former was true, 17% said the latter, and 31% said both factored in.A slightly majority, 51%, agreed that Rustad's views were "too extreme," though NDP and Green voters were far more likely to affirm that statement than Conservatives. A full 44% of undecided voters thought so as well.The poll was conducted between September 20 and 22, before the NDP released video of Rustad referring to the COVID-19 shots as "the so-called vaccine" and accusing Dr. Bonnie Henry of using it to "control" the population.