Bruce makes a comeback! – 7 per cent jump in favourability rating

Prime Minister Bruce Golding has gained ground on Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller in the latest check on the favourability and approval ratings of the leaders of the two major political parties.

Simpson Miller continues to enjoy double-digit leads over the Manatt-bruised Golding, but the latest Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll showed that more and more people are questioning her ability as a leader.

Johnson’s survey found that the favourability rating of Golding jumped from 25 per cent last April to 32 per cent this year.

Golding’s highest favourability rating was recorded in August 2007, when on the eve of parliamentary election, he polled 46 per cent.

Except for a slip to 45 per cent in November that year, Golding returned 46 per cent favourable ratings in two subsequent polls before slipping to an all-time low of 25 per cent last year.

Low favourability

Simpson Miller’s lowest favourability rating was measured at 40 per cent by Johnson last April. That rating has gone up to 46 per cent in the most recent poll, although it remains six per cent behind the 52 per cent high she enjoyed in June 2008.

Golding’s unfavourable rating has also moved down from 54 per cent to 51 per cent. Seventeen per cent do not know what opinion to have of him.

Simpson Miller’s unfavourability rating has inched up a point from last year to an all-time high of 40 per cent. Fourteen per cent of the respondents did not know what opinion to have of Simpson Miller.

The latest poll was conducted among 1,008 persons across Jamaica’s 14 parishes on May 28 and 29 and June 4 and 5, 2011. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.

As it relates to how Golding has been performing in his position of prime minister, his approval rating has improved seven percentage points to 34 per cent from last year’s low of 27 per cent. But that is still well below his previous high of 48 per cent, recorded in June 2008.

Five in every 10 Jamaicans said they disapprove of how Golding is performing as prime minister, while 15 per cent said they were not sure.

At the same time, Simpson Miller’s ratings as opposition leader improved by two percentage points since the last poll to 44 per cent.

However, the number of persons who think Simpson Miller is doing a poor job as opposition leader climbed to 39, her worst performance in three years. Seventeen per cent of those sampled were unsure whether Simpson Miller was doing a good or bad job.

Replace Golding!

More than half of Jamaica believes Bruce Golding should be replaced as prime minister, but there remains a sizeable constituent that wants him to say.

A Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll has found that 55 per cent of Jamaicans believe Golding does not deserve to be re-elected to lead the country. That represents a negligible increase from the 54 per cent who wanted Golding out in a similar poll done one year ago.

Thirty-four per cent of Jamaicans believe Golding is the right man for the job and deserves a second term. That is up from 31 per cent one year ago, but well below the 42 per cent who said they wanted Golding returned when a poll was done in 2009.

The latest poll was done from May 28 to 29 and June 4 to 5. It has a sample size of 1,008 persons with a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.

As things stand now, do you think Bruce Golding deserves to be re-elected prime minister when the next general election is held, or do you think someone else should be prime minister?

8/09 4/10 5/11

Deserves to be re-elected 42% 31% 34%

Someone else 42 54 55

Don’t know 16 15 11

Source: The Gleaner