The three main parties appear to be close to a tie – ahead of the next federal election -but a new Ipsos poll seems to suggest that voters think NDP leader Tom Mulcair would be the best Prime Minister.

The online poll of 1,000 Canadians found 37 percent believe Mulcair would make the best PM – compared to 32 percent for Liberal leader Justin Trudeau – and 31 percent for Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

The poll was taken from August 24th to 26th – and comes as the Mike Duffy trial takes another recess – that is expected to last until November, well after the election.

The poll is considered accurate to within 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.