NDP heading towards majority in Ontario election: poll

With two weeks to go until the Ontario election, a new poll suggests if the vote were held today, the NDP could form a majority government.

The Forum Research poll, which was released on Friday, said almost half of Ontarions — 47 per cent — would support the NDP. Thirty-three percent of respondents said they would support the PCs, while 14 per cent said they would back the Liberals. Around four per cent said they would back the Greens or another party.

“If the election were held today, we project these results would see an NDP majority government with 79 seats,” Forum said in a release.

The PCs would be the Official Opposition with 40 seats, but the Liberals would receive only five seats — not enough seats to hang on to official party status in the legislature.

Right now, there are 107 seats at Queen’s Park, but that will rise to 122 seats in the 2018 election. Parties need eight seats to maintain official party status in Ontario.

Last year, a previous Forum poll also found that the Liberals could be decimated in the election. At that time, Forum president Lorne Bozinoff said with just over a year to election day, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals faced a tough task in reversing their polling numbers.

As the NDP continues to gain voter support, thirty-three per cent of respondents also said its leader Andrea Horwath would make the best premier. PC Leader Doug Ford is not far behind at 30 per cent. In comparison, only 15 per cent saw Wynne as the best premier. Around 13 per cent said none of the leaders would be best-suited.

The Forum poll surveyed 906 Ontario voters by telephone on May 23. The poll is considered accurate plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20. For the complete poll results click here.