The British Columbia Conservative Party is gaining from the BC Liberal Party's losses, according to a poll released this morning which put the New Democratic Party in the lead.

The Angus Reid Public Opinion poll put support for the NDP at 40 percent, the Liberals at 31 percent, the Conservatives at 18 percent and the BC Greens at eight percent.

While the NDP had a gain of two percent since the company's last poll, conducted in March, the Conservatives' support jumped 13 percent while the Liberals' dropped by 12 percent.

"The BC Conservatives have clearly benefited from the drop in support for the incumbent party, and have reached the highest level ever recorded in an Angus Reid Public Opinion poll," said the company's summary of the results.

"One year after the resignation of Gordon Campbell, the BC Liberals face a new challenge," it said. "Premier [Christy] Clark is still regarded as the best person to head the government, and is preferred over [NDP Leader Adrian] Dix and [Conservative Leader] Cummins on the economy . . . However, Clark’s momentum score was the lowest one of all politicians, and her party has seen a sizeable drop in support since March."

Dix's approval rating is "considerably higher than the best numbers of his predecessor, Carole James," it said, but noted that support for the NDP has yet to return to the highs before Campbell's resignation.

The poll also showed that while men supported the two lead parties equally, the NDP had a 19 percent advantage over the Liberals among women.

The survey was conducted online and sampled 803 British Columbian adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.

Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.