Golding pulls ahead of Holness in favourability ratings

By Nakinskie Robinson   

 

Leader of the Opposition People's National Party, Mark Golding, is out in front in terms of favourability among Jamaicans.

 

In the latest Don Anderson poll, the governing Jamaica Labour Party's leader, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, has lost ground in his positive favourability ratings as the race for Gordon House picks up pace.

 

Asked about their perception of the leaders of the two main political parties, 36 per cent of respondents said they favoured the PNP's Mark Golding.

 

Prime Minister Holness now trails behind with a 32.5 per cent favourability rating.

 

In previous polls, the PNP president had struggled to pass Mr. Holness.

 

Coming off the high of the party's strong showing in the local government election in February, another Don Anderson poll in April saw Mr. Golding trailing at 37 per cent, three points behind Mr. Holness, at 40 per cent.

 

When compared with that poll, Mr. Golding's overall favourability, like the Prime Minister's, has dipped in the most recent survey.

 

Political commentator Lloyd B. Smith believes Mr. Golding's new found favour is the result of a lack of public confidence in Prime Minister Holness.  

 

"I think the shift has come about because it's a question of likeability. I think based on what has been happening on the political hustings in recent times, Mr. Holness has come across as being somewhat arrogant and is not sufficiently in tune with the Jamaican people in terms of their view of a leader that is compassionate and caring," he asserted. 

 

Some 38.2 per cent of the 1,012 people who participated in the survey say they had no opinion of the Opposition Leader, while 25.8 per cent had a negative view.

 

Prime Minister Holness has also racked up unfavourable gains, with a notable 39.9 per cent of respondents saying they have an adverse opinion of Mr. Holness, a figure that outstrips his favourability score.

 

Another 27.5 per cent of respondents say they have no opinion about Mr. Holness.

 

Mr. Smith believes the controversy surrounding the Prime Minister's financial affairs contributed to the shift. 

 

"The matter of the Integrity Commission issue would be playing out itself there as well, against the backdrop that many Jamaicans are in fact not feeling the prosperity binge that has been promised and that has been touted, but are suffering with the cost of living and what have you. So because of this disconnect between Mr. Holness and many persons in the electorate, they have turned their eyes on the alternative which is Mr. Golding," he reasoned. 

 

The respondents were also asked to rate the performance of both leaders, an area where Mr. Golding also outranks Mr. Holness.

 

Some 42 per cent rated Mr. Golding's performance as average, compared to 17.2 per cent who rated it as good and 15.2 per cent rated it very good.

 

Another 14.7 per cent said Mr. Golding's performance is very poor, while 10.9 per cent believe it's poor.

 

For Mr. Holness, however, 30.7 per cent of the respondents rated his performance as average, 25.2 per cent said it's very poor, 15.9 per cent believe it is poor, 14.5 per cent rated it good and 13.8 per cent said his performance is very good.

 

The poll was was conducted between September 27 and October 3 and has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent at the 95 per cent confidence level.