Trend spotting

This morning, Mustel Research Group Ltd. released a poll showing the provincial Liberals at 47 percent - 14 percentage points higher than the New Democrats. That's a bigger lead than the one reported by Ipsos-Reid Corp.'s November 18 poll, which put the Liberals at 44 percent - nine percentage points higher than the New Democrats. So does Mustel's most recent numbers represent a trend? Well, to find out, British Columbians will likely have to wait till mid-February. That's the earliest Ipsos-Reid could come out with their next provincial politics poll - although mid-March is also a possibility. Meanwhile, Angus Reid Strategies Inc. is considering releasing such a poll sometime in the third week of February.