Men and women are more split in their opinions of Pierre Poilievre than they are of Mark Carney, according to a new Leger poll of residents in B.C. Read More
Men are more likely to cast their ballots for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative party in the upcoming federal election
Men are more likely to cast their ballots for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative party in the upcoming federal election
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Men and women are more split in their opinions of Pierre Poilievre than they are of Mark Carney, according to a new Leger poll of residents in B.C.
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The poll, which was taken in the last week of March, found 48 per cent of decided voters in B.C. said they would vote for Mark Carney and the Liberal party if the election was today, compared to 38 per cent for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party.
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While men, at 47 per cent, and women, at 49 per cent, were quite close in saying they would vote for Carney and the Liberals if an election was held today, they diverged in saying the same for Poilievre and the Conservatives with men at 44 per cent and women at 33 per cent.
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Similarly, while 43 per cent of men and 39 per cent of women said Carney would make the best prime minister, there was a wider split between the two when it came to saying Poilievre would make the best prime minister, with 34 per cent of men versus 22 per cent of women.
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Pollsters and other observers said that the Conservative Party has generally had a harder time attracting female voters, but there is also the impact of style and image that has made Poilievre less favourable.
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“He has always been a fairly aggressive, fairly brash politician,” said Andrew Enns, executive vice-president at Leger.
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In 2023 and 2024, Poilievre’s clear and “a little bit in your face” approach gave him success as an opposition party leader and he gained traction with voters with his concise style of identifying shortcomings of the sitting government, said Enns.
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“We do find it is a fine line with female voters and they can be put off by that too,” said Enns, adding that in more recent months there has been a shift in the Canadian electorate from anger at the government over inflation and household budgets to a desire for leaders to provide comfort and stability in the face of the trade war with the U.S.
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“Female voters want to hear a more confident, more calm leader, someone who says, ‘we’ve got a plan,’” he said.
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When survey respondents were asked, regardless of political affiliation, who they think will win the election, 47 per cent of men and 45 per cent of women said Carney. Thirty-seven per cent of men and 23 per cent of women said Poilievre.
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When it came to perceptions of who had the best campaign performance, 45 per cent of men said Carney compared to 38 per cent of women. Again, the split was greater for Poilievre with men at 33 per cent and women at 21 per cent.
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University of B.C. political science lecturer Stewart Prest said Poilievre’s “not subtle makeover seemed to be really expressly designed to appeal to a particular conception of masculinity. And so that sense of being a strong male figure in a kind of stereotypical fashion. Aviator sunglasses, tight T-shirts and these sorts of things. … It seems to work better with men than women.”