Nanos: Canadians say it’s more important for next Tory leader to be fiscally conservative than socially conservative

Canadians, including voters who identify as Conservatives, say it is more important for the party’s next leader to be fiscally conservative than socially conservative, a new poll shows.

Thirty-three per cent of Canadians polled by Nanos Research said the ideal Conservative Party leader would not be socially conservative, while 15 per cent said they view the next leader of the party as very socially conservative. Thirty-seven per cent said the ideal leader should be neutral on social issues and 14 per cent said they are not sure.

Nanos Research asked respondents to rank positions on social and economic issues on a scale from one to 10. The polling firm categorized rankings of one to three as being “not at all,” four to seven as being “neutral” and “very” being eight to 10.

People who say they regularly vote for the Conservative Party federally are more likely to say the ideal federal leader should be “very socially conservative” and “very economically conservative” than those who never vote for the party. But regular party voters say they are more likely to favour a Conservative Party leader that is economically conservative than socially conservative.