Trudeau popularity as Prime Minister keeps surging (ending November 6, 2015)

Nanos Weekly Leadership Tracking

  • Preferred Prime Minister – Nanos tracking as to who Canadians would prefer as Prime Minister has Trudeau still climbing on this measure and is currently at 46.6%, followed by former Conservative leader Harper at 21.8%, Mulcair at 13.8%, May at 5.2%, and 11.1% were unsure.  Readers should note that Interim Conservative Leader Ambrose was added to the Nanos tracking this week.
  • Qualities of a Good Political Leader – Seven of ten Canadians thought Trudeau had the qualities of a good political leader a record high for Trudeau, or any leader in the Nanos tracking while 55.2% of Canadians thought similarly of Mulcair.  Harper was at 49.2% of Canadians and May at 36.2%.  This is based on a series of independent questions for each party leader.

The team at Nanos in conjunction with Klipfolio have launched our new live political data portal where you run the numbers you want and can explore the trends and data you need.  This is part of our campaign, not only to provide the most reliable data to Canadians but to let them use it as they wish. We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians.

We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians. Here’s the link to check it out 

To view the detailed tracking visit our website.

Methodology

The views of 1,000 respondents are compiled into a party power brand index for each party that goes from 0 to 100, where 0 means that the party has no brand power and 100 means it has maximum brand power. A score above 50 is an indication of brand power for the party and its leader at this time.

The important factors in this weekly tracking include the direction of the brand strength or weakness and also the brand power of one federal party relative to another.

The data is based on random telephone interviews with 1,000 Canadians, using a four week rolling average of 250 respondents each week, 18 years of age and over. The random sample of 1,000 respondents may be weighted by age and gender using the latest census information for Canada, and the sample is geographically stratified to be representative of Canada. 

The interviews are compiled into a four week rolling average of 1,000 interviews where each week, the oldest group of 250 interviews is dropped and a new group of 250 interviews is added. Note: the current wave of tracking is based on the final weekend of the election writ period ending October 18th as well as the three week period ending November 6th. As we move forward the tracking will revert to a four-week rolling average of 1,000 Canadians (250 per week).

A random telephone survey of 1,000 Canadians is accurate 3.1 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.

All references or use of this data must cite “Nanos Party Power Index” as the source.

 

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Comparison of Federal Election Results to Nanos Estimates -CORRECTED

When the final votes were tallied the Nanos tracking was even closer!

Check it out.  Sorry about that.  

Here is a comparison of the election results to the Nanos data using the Election Canada data as of 10:30 am Tuesday October 20th.

Comparison of Federal Election Results to Nanos Estimates

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An election is a torture chamber for politicians, voters and pollsters – and rightly so. 

At Nanos we take very seriously our responsibility as a research firm and the trust Canadians place in our numbers. In addition to the exceptional coverage by our clients — CTV News and the Globe and Mail, and Bloomberg News — the Nanos numbers were cited by virtually all major media outlets in Canada and several international ones such as by The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian Newspaper in the UK and the BBC.

Over the course of the election, the Nanos numbers were also a central part of the dialogue on social media.  For example, our polling was cited in 55.2 million tweets during the campaign.

A review of our tracking in Canada’s 42nd federal election suggests that the Nanos track record of reliability in national and provincial elections continues from strength to strength.  Our approach of using random land- and cell-line samples with live agents, in our opinion, remains the most consistently robust means of measuring opinion.

Here is a comparison of the election results to the Nanos data using the Election Canada data as of 1:20 am ET.

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As you can see, this contributes to the Nanos track record which is among the most consistently accurate for national and provincial elections in Canada. 

For this federal election, Nanos accurately called the winner in all regions, the results for every party were well within the margin of error and accurately forecast the Liberal victory.

Nanos Nightly Ballot Tracking: Liberals win popular support – Canadians to decide how many seats they get (October 18th only)

Sunday Only Numbers: Liberals 39.1%, Conservatives 30.5%, NDP 19.7%, Green Party 4.6%, Bloc 5.5%, Other 0.5%

Hope all is well.  To follow are the results of the last round of tracking that we have conducted on behalf of CTV News and The Globe and Mail.  Some key observations from a research standpoint on this election.

This was an election about change – The level of totally undecided opinion in the Nanos tracking was lower than usual throughout the campaign, but the proportion of Liberal-NDP switchers was exceptionally high.  This suggests that many Canadians had decided they were not voting for the Conservatives but were open to voting for either the Liberals or the NDP.

  • Who is the agent of change – The first 66 days of the campaign, much of which was characterized by a tight three-way race, was about Canadians contemplating who would be the agent of change. Once the numbers started breaking in favour of the Liberals, NDP change-driven support shifted to the Liberals and a two-horse race emerged.
  • Holiday weekend shift – Holidays in elections are often key junctures of opinion formation and this election was one of them.  Entering the Thanksgiving long weekend, it was a two-way race between the Liberals and Conservatives.  After it, the Liberals had the advantage which they maintained throughout the close of the campaign.
  • Impact of a long campaign – This longer-than-usual campaign benefitted the Trudeau Liberals. At the 37-day point, there was a three-way race without the change sentiment coalescing around  any one opposition party, resulting in a vote split between the Liberals and NDP.  The longer campaign allowed Trudeau to incrementally demonstrate he was not as risky as the Conservatives suggested.
  • Conservative ad campaign a bust – The longer campaign allowed Trudeau’s daily performance to invalidate the Conservative attack ads.  Also of note, the research suggested that the Conservatives were strong on fiscal issues, such as controlling government spending but not on their plan for the economy.  The Liberals significantly improved on this measure throughout the campaign.  One Conservative ad campaign pillar (“He’s just not ready”) was invalidated, while the other pillar (economic security) did not resonate.
  • Tom Mulcair and the New Democrats – Beneath the numbers for top ballot and preferred Prime Minister, the research suggests that Tom Mulcair’s personal brand remains strong (qualities of a good political leader question) and the proportion of Canadians that would consider voting NDP is still significant.  The NDP in this election was squeezed in a change movement manifested through the Liberals and Justin Trudeau.
  • Minority or majority – Nanos does not do seat projections.  Our focus is to estimate the popular support and to understand the dynamic of the campaign.  The research points to a Liberal victory. The magnitude of that victory — whether it be a minority, a strong minority or a majority government — will be decided by Canadians.
  • Nanos popular support projection – During the election, we ran a three-day rolling average of political sentiment of 1,200 Canadians (400 a night).  For the last three nights we doubled our sample to 800 Canadians a night.  In the table below we present the individual results for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as the three day average. In past elections we have found the Sunday numbers have best captured the political mood on election day.
  • Range of Support – Please note that estimates of popular support involve an upper and lower statistical range of outcomes (plus or minus, 19 times out of 20) which are detailed in the table below.

The team at Nanos in conjunction with Klipfolio have launched our new live political data portal where you run the numbers you want and can explore the trends and data you need.  This is part of our campaign, not only to provide the most reliable data to Canadians but to let them use it as they wish. We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians.

We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians. Here’s the link to check it out 

To view the detailed tracking stats please visit our website.

Methodology

A national random telephone (land + cell) survey using live agents of 1,200 Canadians is conducted by Nanos Research throughout the campaign over a three day period.  Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. To update the tracking a new day of interviewing is added and the oldest day dropped. A double sample of 800 interviews, per night, were conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The last day is based on a one day sample of 800 interviews. The margin of error for a survey of 800 respondents is ±3.5%, 19 times out of 20.

The respondent sample is stratified geographically and by gender.  The data may be weighted by age according to data from the 2011 Canadian Census administered by Statistics Canada.  Percentages reported may not add up to 100 due to rounding.  The research has been registered with the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association of which Nanos is a member.

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Nanos Nightly Leadership Tracking – Preferred PM: Trudeau (35.5%), Harper (29.1%), Mulcair (18.9%), May (5.2%) – Three-day Tracking Ending October 18th

Nanos Nightly Election Tracking Highlights (3-day tracking ending October 18th)

Trudeau closes campaign ahead of Harper as preferred Prime Minister

  • Leadership – Asked who they preferred as Prime Minister 35.5% said Trudeau, 29.1% said Harper, 18.9% said Mulcair, 5.2% said May, 1.8% said Duceppe and 9.6% of Canadians were unsure.
  • Nanos Party Power Index – The Index which is a composite of a series of questions including ballot preferences and impressions of the leaders had the Liberals at 58.1 out of a possible 100 points, the NDP with 49.8 points, the Conservatives with 49.3 points, the Greens with 30.4 points, and the BQ with 31.5 points in Quebec.

The team at Nanos in conjunction with Klipfolio have launched our new live political data portal where you run the numbers you want and can explore the trends and data you need.  This is part of our campaign, not only to provide the most reliable data to Canadians but to let them use it as they wish. We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians.

We were the first to do nightly tracking and now we are the first research organization to post live public opinion data for Canadians. Here’s the link to check it out 

To view the detailed tracking visit our website.

Methodology

A national random telephone (land + cell) survey using live agents of 1,200 Canadians is conducted by Nanos Research throughout the campaign over a three day period.  Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. A double sample of 800 interviews, per night, were conducted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Today’s daily tracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample comprised of 2,400 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 2,400 respondents is ±2.0%, 19 times out of 20. 

The respondent sample is stratified geographically and by gender.  The data may be weighted by age according to data from the 2011 Canadian Census administered by Statistics Canada.  Percentages reported may not add up to 100 due to rounding.  The research has been registered with the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association of which Nanos is a member.

Results are based on the three day calling window October 16 to 18, 2015. The research was commissioned by CTV News and The Globe and Mail.

Nanos Nightly Election Tracking Data Summary for period ending October 18th, 2015:

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