Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has a five-point advantage over Conservative Leader Stephen Harper as preferred Prime Minister, the latest tracking by Nanos Research for 麻豆影视 and the Globe and Mail shows.

According to numbers released on Oct. 17:

  • 35.0 per cent of survey respondents said they would prefer Trudeau as prime minister
  • 30.2 per cent preferred Harper
  • 19.0 per cent preferred Mulcair
  • 5.3 per cent preferred Green Party Leader Elizabeth May
  • 1.9 per cent preferred Duceppe
  • 8.6 per cent of Canadians were unsure

Respondents were asked: "Of the current federal political party leaders, could you please rank your top two current local preferences for Prime Minister?"

Of those who chose Harper first, 35 per cent said they had no second choice and 35 per cent said Trudeau would be their second choice. Of those who chose Trudeau first, 51 per cent said they would choose Mulcair second. And 65 per cent of those who preferred Mulcair said they would pick Trudeau second.

Nanos preferred PM Oct. 17

Qualities of a Good Political Leader

When asked a series of independent questions on each of the federal party leaders as to whether they had the qualities of a good political leader:

  • 61.0 per cent of respondents said they thought Trudeau possesses the qualities of a good political leader
  • 55.2 per cent said they thought Mulcair has those qualities
  • 51.4 per cent said Harper has those qualities
  • 36.2 per cent said May has those qualities
  • 46.0 per cent said Duceppe has those qualities

Survey methodology

A national dual-frame (land and cell) random telephone survey is conducted nightly by Nanos Research throughout the campaign using live agents. Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. An additional 400 interviews were completed on Friday.

The daily tracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample composed of 1,600 interviews. To update the tracking a new day of interviewing is added and the oldest day dropped. The margin of error for a survey of 1,600 respondents is ±2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Sample Enhancement

Readers should note that on Friday the nightly sample was doubled to 800 live interviews with a total three day rolling average of 1,600 voters (400 on Wednesday, 400 on Thursday and 800 on Friday).

at Nanos Research

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