British Columbians react well to Christy Clark and Dianne Watts, but the party would still trail the NDP and the Conservatives.
Vancouver, BC [May 24, 2024] – The re-emergence of two well-known politicians would slightly help BC United in an election year, a new Research Co. poll has found.
The online survey of a representative provincial sample asked British Columbians how they would vote in an election with 14 different options leading BC United.
Christy Clark and Dianne Watts post the best numbers, attracting 18% of decided voters to BC United—a six-point increase from the current standing of the party under Kevin Falcon.
Clark, who served as Premier and BC Liberal leader from 2011 to 2017, would still position BC United in third place, behind the BC New Democratic Party (NDP) (35%) and the Conservative Party of BC (26%).
Under Watts, a former Mayor of Surrey and former Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party who finished second in the 2018 BC Liberal leadership race, BC United also trails the BC New Democrats (36%) and the BC Conservatives (24%).
“Just under one-in-five British Columbians who are willing to vote for the BC Conservatives (17%) would back BC United with Dianne Watts as leader,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Watts would put BC United in second place, behind the BC NDP, among decided voters aged 55 and over (43% to 24%).”
Two other candidates are ahead of Falcon’s current numbers: Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee, who finished third in the BC Liberal leadership races of 2018 and 2022 (14%) and Gavin Dew, who finished fifth in the 2022 BC Liberal leadership election (13%).
Three candidates who sought the leadership of the BC Liberals would have the same level of support commanding BC United that Falcon currently has (12%): sixth place leadership finisher in 2022 Renee Merrifield, fourth place finisher in 2011 Mike de Jong and sixth place finisher in 2018 Sam Sullivan.
Support from decided voters would be lower for BC United under seven other candidates: second place leadership finisher in 2022 Ellis Ross (11%), current Mayor of Vancouver Ken Sim (also 11%), former BC Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson (also 11%), fourth place finisher in 2018 Todd Stone (10%), seventh place finisher in 2022 Stan Sipos (also 10%), fifth place finisher in 2022 Val Litwin (9%) and Aaron Gunn, who was disqualified from participating in the 2022 BC Liberal leadership race (also 9%).
Methodology: Results are based on an online study conducted from May 13 to May 15, 2024, among 800 adults in British Columbia. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region in British Columbia. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.5 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca