OTTAWA - A new poll suggests New Democrats appear to have consolidated their support as official Opposition to the Harper Conservatives, particularly among women and urban voters.
As a new Parliament opens following the May 2 election, the Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey suggests the majority Conservative government has the support of 37 per cent of respondents -- down from the Tories' 39.6 per cent of the popular vote on election day.
NDP support stood at 34 per cent in the poll, up from 30.6 per cent of the popular vote, while the third-place Liberals slipped to 15 per cent in the survey, a loss of almost four percentage points from their election day total.
The two-week telephone survey of just over 2,000 respondents found that NDP support among women actually surpassed that of the Conservatives -- especially urban and suburban women, where the New Democrats enjoyed a six-point edge.
Harris-Decima found the Tories held a significant advantage among men, rural voters and people in the 905 area code ringing Toronto, with Conservative support above 40 per cent in all three categories.
The poll, conducted May 19-30, has a margin of error of 2.1 per cent, plus of minus, 19 times in 20.
