Is Trudeau’s resignation enough to keep Liberals in power? Poll suggests no

A majority of Canadians support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down, yet his announcement has not changed the Liberal party’s fortunes, new polling suggests.

A majority of Canadians support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to step down, yet his announcement this week has not changed the Liberal party’s fortunes, new polling suggests.

Eight in 10 (81 per cent) Canadians said they are in favour of Trudeau’s resignation, with more than half saying they “strongly approve” of it, according to an Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News and released on Wednesday.

When announcing his plans to step aside, Trudeau said that it has become clear to him that if he’s having to fight internal battles, he cannot be the best option in the upcoming election.

However, his decision to make way for a new leader has not moved the needle much for the Liberals’ prospects, with support for the party dropping by one point, down to 20 per cent, since similar polling was done in late December.

Among decided voters, support for the Liberals under Trudeau remains unchanged from Ipsos polling released on Dec. 20 that put the party at near-historic lows of 20 per cent.

Decided voter support for Conservatives was up two per cent this month to 46 per cent compared to 44 per cent in the Dec. 20 polling, while the NDP are now down to 17 per cent support among decided voters compared to being level with Liberals at 20 per cent last month.

When asked how likely respondents would be to consider voting Liberal in the next election now that Trudeau has resigned, 57 per cent of Canadians said they are not likely and 23 per cent said they are likely to consider a vote for the party.

The polling comes just two days after Trudeau announced that he plans to step down as the country’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal party.