Grit dissent could be a 'killer' for party in next election, says a top pollster

Liberal division over Michael Ignatieff's leadership will be a "killer" for the party if the dissent continues through into a federal election, says pollster Nik Nanos.

And a fall vote remains likely despite the damaging revelations Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) has faced over his government's spending spree for the world summits he is scheduled to host later this month in Toronto and Huntsville, Ont., Mr. Nanos added.

The Liberal strife, exposed and stirred up further by wild-card backroomer Warren Kinsella's declaration last week, backed up by his own sworn affidavit, of top-level merger talks with the NDP, denied by Mr. Ignatieff (Etobicoke-Lakeshore, Ont.), added to party woes created by the bleeding of Liberal support to the NDP. That phenomenon in itself has increased the chances that Mr. Harper might form the majority government that slipped through his grasp in the past two elections.

Source: The Hill Times