Jason Kenney’s approval ratings have cratered by 15 points over the last three months, according to a new poll.
Conducted by DART, the poll shows the Alberta premier fell from 55 per cent approval in September to 40 per cent approval in December.
In a release, DART calls it an “unprecedented plummet.”
Kenney and his United Conservative Party government have moved fast to make deep structural changes to the province after four years of NDP rule, and introduced a budget with significant cuts and job losses.
“When mixed in with numerous other contentious decisions — ranging from reducing the corporate tax rate to a belt tightening budget to the firing of the Alberta Election Commissioner — the premier is clearly playing the long game, likely factoring in a tough medicine impact on his popularity now for a revival in political prospects down the home stretch towards the next election,” reads a release from DART on the poll.
The numbers
Only 13 per cent of respondents said they strongly approved of Kenney, with his highest support among those over the age of 55 (24 per cent) and making over $100,000 per year (17 per cent).
Twenty-six per cent of respondents moderately approved of Kenney.
The Alberta premier is least popular with those between the ages of 18 and 34. Only six per cent of respondents in that demographic strongly approve of the premier, with fully 50 per cent strongly disapproving.
The DART poll looked at the approval rating of premiers across Canada, and Kenney was in a league of his own in terms of his drop.
The other outlier was Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, still below Kenney in terms of approval, but riding a 17-point surge to 36 per cent approval.
The weighted DART poll is accurate within plus or minus 1.6 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.