The Liberals and Conservatives are in 2nd and 3rd place respectively.
Jagmeet Singh’s bid to get a seat in the House of Commons – and salvage his moribund leadership – is off to a decent start.
According to a new Mainstreet Research Poll of Burnaby South residents for the upcoming by-election, Singh has a solid lead:
Jagmeet Singh (NDP) – 38.8%
Karen Wang (Liberal) – 26.3%
Jay Shin (Conservative) – 22%
Laura-Lynn Tyler Thompson (People’s Party) – 8.7%
The NDP had narrowly won the riding in the last election, and the by-election is seen as Jagmeet Singh’s last hope to resurrect his political fortunes, which have been in freefall as his performance as NDP leader is widely panned.
The numbers for the People’s Party are also notable, and are quite different from the 1-2% the party has been getting in most national polls.
If the People’s Party is able to finish anywhere near 8.7%, and if the Conservatives finish far behind the NDP and Liberals, it will certainly set off some serious panic within the upper echelons of the Conservative Party, raising further fears of potential vote-splitting on the right/centre-right. However, the Liberals are also polling down from their 2015 result, which could mean the People’s Party is pulling votes from both disgruntled former Conservatives and Liberals.
That said, it remains to be seen whether the NDP or People’s Party have the infrastructure to turn potential votes into actual votes, when compared to the more seasoned and powerful political machines of the Conservatives and Liberals.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – YouTube
