A new poll released less than a week after Kevin O’Leary officially entered the Conservative leadership race puts the celebrity businessmen well ahead of his rival candidates.
The Forum Research poll, which randomly sampled 1,332 Canadian voters, found that 27 per cent of respondents named O’Leary as the preferred candidate to lead the Conservative Party.
Maxime Bernier was identified by 11 per cent of respondents as the preferred leader followed by Lisa Raitt, who received seven per cent support.
O’Leary, who joins 13 other candidates vying for the position, officially announced his intention to run on Jan. 18.
The poll’s respondents were asked to provide their opinions on eight Conservative leadership candidates, including O’Leary, Bernier, Raitt, Michael Chong, Chris Alexander, Steven Blaney, Kellie Leitch, and Andrew Scheer.
More than one third (38 per cent) of those surveyed said they believe “someone else” would be a better choice than any of the aforementioned candidates.
"Kevin O'Leary's entry into the Conservative leadership race has propelled him to the front of the field, with more than double the support of his nearest rival,” Lorne Bozinoff, the president of Forum Research, said in his analysis accompanying the recently released poll.
“Still, more than a third of interested voters don't support any of the current candidates.”
Of those who identified themselves as Conservative Party members, O’Leary received 31 per cent support.
Forty-nine per cent of respondents who voted for the Conservatives in the last federal election said O’Leary was their preferred candidate.
The telephone survey, which was conducted between Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, is considered accurate plus or minus three per cent, 19 times out of 20.
