“The Natural Governing Party of Canada” is poised to hit new lows in terms of voter support.
We have a new poll out this afternoon that says that just 23 per cent of voters across the country would vote for a Liberal candidate. (Do click through this link for all the important stuff that goes with poll publishing during a writ period.)
So if the Liberals are at 23 per cent now, how does that stack up against previous election performance?
The Liberal Party's three worst days:
The Liberals have never been so low since the very first federal election the young Dominion had in 1867. John A. MacDonald's coalition of Conservatives and Liberal-Conservatives bested the slate of Liberal candidates led by George Brown. Brown won 22.67 per cent of the popular vote in that election, which was good enough to put 62 MPs on his side of the 180-seat House.
* If Stephane Dion's numbers do not improve, this slot in history — at 23 per cent — could be his.
In 1984, Brian Mulroney would win the biggest majority ever at the expense of Liberal leader John Turner, who garnered just 28.02 per cent of the popular vote.
The 2006 election, the one that made Stephen Harper prime minister and cost Paul Martin his job, was the Liberal Party's third worst showing in terms of popular vote. In that election, 30.23 per cent of votes cast were for a Liberal.
The Liberal Party's three best days:
William Lyon MacKenzie King won 51.32 per cent of the popular vote in 1940.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier is a close second, winning 50.88 per cent of the votes in the 1904 election.
Remarkably, Laurier's 1904 win improved on his 50.25 level of support in 1900.
Here's one interesting footnote: Harper's Conservatives are now showing up in some polls, though not ours, with 40 per cent and some commentators are saying that hitting the magic 40 puts him at majority territory. Well, back in the days before the Bloc and the Greens, Pierre Trudeau won more than 40 per cent of the popular vote on election day but his opponent, Joe Clark became the prime minister with just 36 per cent of the popular vote.
The numbers for this post, incidentally, are courtesy Wikipedia.
David, do you know why Global doesn't post the national numbers for the Bloc in its stories on Ipsos polls? I understand that the Bloc is a regional entity, and that their Quebec numbers are more important – but for those of us who follow the national numbers for all parties, it's a bit annoying.
I know, I know, my life is so hard…
On reflection, you probably do know, since you wrote the article, so instead of possibly sounding snooty lemme rephrase: how come you don't include the Bloc national numbers? Which is a roundabout way of saying: what are the Bloc national numbers? Inquiring minds want to know!