Holness ahead in favourability rating

Two months after a strong showing in the local government elections (LGE) in which the opposition People’s National Party (PNP) pulled out more votes than in the 2020 general election, its president, Opposition Leader Mark Golding, still trails Prime Minister Andrew Holness in favourability ratings.

This is according to the results of a poll conducted by the Don Anderson-led Market Research Services Limited in April. The poll was commissioned by the PNP.

Holness leads in the favourability index at 40 per cent to Golding’s 37 per cent in the poll, which has a plus or minus three per cent margin of error.

Some 18.1 per cent held a negative opinion of Golding, compared to 31.1 per cent for Holness.

Additionally, 28.8 of the respondents had no opinion of Holness, compared to 44.8 per cent for Golding.

Anderson believes this was a good showing for Golding, who generally trails the JLP leader Holness.

According to him, Holness’ 31 per cent unfavourable index, “has a significantly higher negative favourability rating than Golding’s at 18 per cent”.

He told The Sunday Gleaner that the results of the recent LGE point to a growing trend where the party’s performance is no longer dictated by the performance of the leaders, as was the case in the P.J. Patterson and Portia Simpson-Miller eras.

“People are looking much broader than at the leaders. Were that not so, given the results of the LGE and the performance of the party, Golding would have been much further ahead. The truth of the matter is that a significant number of the people have not been able to make up their minds about Golding, whereas, by virtue of being the Government, doing and saying things every day, giving out houses every day, people are more able to decide how they are performing,” Anderson explained.

He believes that is the reason why such a large percentage did not know how to rate the political party leaders. That, Anderson said, played out when respondents were asked to rate the performance of the leaders in the governance roles.

“Thirty-four per cent rated Holness’ performance as negative, compared to 33 per cent who rated it as positive, for a net negative of one point. Twenty-five per cent rated Golding’s performance as negative, compared to 21 per cent who rated this performance as positive, for a net negative of minus four percentage points,” he said.

The pollster continued: “Golding, at four per cent, has a higher net negative performance rating than Holness at one per cent. Holness, at 33 per cent, has a higher positive performance rating than Golding at 21 per cent. Overall, both parties, and both leaders, have a net negative performance rating.”

REASONS FOR

GOOD/BAD RATINGS

Golding’s positive ratings were supported by 44 per cent of the respondents thinking he has good plans for the country; 43 per cent believing he is a good leader; 35 per cent who believe he is speaking out on important things affecting Jamaicans; 35 per cent who hold the view that he is speaking for the poor; and 21 per cent who say they want him to lead the country.

On the negative side, 41 per cent do not see Golding as a good leader, 27 per cent do not believe he is confident, and 27.3 per cent do not believe his party is united. Eighteen per cent said he is not outspoken enough.

Anderson found that negative ratings of Holness were driven by a number of factors, the most significant of these being the 46 per cent who did not think he is a good leader.

Other factors conditioning this negative rating included 30 per cent of those polled, who did not feel he has enough control over the country; 30 per cent who did not think he was in touch with the people; 26 per cent who said that crime was still on the increase; 25 per cent who did not feel he fulfilled his promises; and 24 per cent who said the country’s economy was still in a bad way.

On the positive side, the top views were that Holness is a good leader, as well as him improving the economy (36.3 per cent), developing infrastructure (36.3 per cent), and that he cares about Jamaica/Jamaicans (27.5 per cent).

THE OTHER SIDE

OF MARK GOLDING

PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell said the party has been provided with valuable data.

“We have always maintained that there is much that was, is unknown about the party leader. His superior intellect in the Lower House is always on display, but the people in the trenches need to know who this man is. That was the reason for putting him on the road. Now, what we have seen is that when he enters a room, he leaves with more support than when he came in. Many are now more familiar with his down-to-earth persona,” Campbell told The Sunday Gleaner.

He said many people were unaware of Golding’s intellectual side prior to his entry into representational politics.

Golding’s eye for legislation grew during his years in the Senate, where he served between 2007 and 2017. He was minister of justice between 2012 and 2016.

Golding entered representational politics in 2017 and became PNP president three years later.

“What they saw in the LGE campaign was the political Mark Golding, who could not only keep, but set the pace. ... The loving, caring side was what the people saw – a man who loves his Jamaican culture, is involved in sports, played cricket as a youngster, an avid footballer as well. But prior to becoming PNP leader, he did not spend enough time on the national stage for people to know him,” the general secretary suggested.

Campbell added that Golding’s legal background has been useful in the Parliament, where “he stands head and shoulders above all”, as he takes a practical approach to evaluating bills, often correcting errors in them.

‘ANDREW HOLNESS

THE MOST ACCOMPLISHED’

Holness, as JLP leader, has been under pressure since the local government election results to make changes to its political administration. At last week’s Central Executive meeting, a range of changes were made to the secretariat.

Several current JLP officials did not respond to The Sunday Gleaner’s requests for comments on the poll findings up to press time.

However, former JLP member of parliament and minister Pearnel Charles Sr said he was not surprised that Holness is ahead of Golding – albeit within the margin of error – despite the JLP’s underperformance in the LGE.

“Of all the prime ministers from the JLP, Andrew Holness has been by far the most accomplished. Bruce Golding would have been a great prime minister had he not become embroiled in the foolishness surrounding Dudus (Christopher Coke), but there is no one who can deny the physical transformation of the country under Holness,” Charles told The Sunday Gleaner.

The retired politician said the biggest obstacle facing the JLP right now is the bad taste left in the mouths of taxpayers after the huge salary increases for the political class.

“If Holness had better trade union advice – and here, I am not saying if I was there – but if he had better advice, I would have told him not to go that route. Not that it wasn’t deserved, or earned, for it was always impossible to help those in need like you want to. The only people who are complaining are the people at the bottom level, who cannot afford to buy food, or pay for services, because as soon as they get an increase, those providers increase their fees, therefore taking it away from them,” argued Charles.

Charles said that while Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke is getting the country’s business in order, he is urging him to get among the lower classes of persons who vote and are feeling the pinch.

“Someone should have advised him to stagger the increases, so it does not come off as one big whack, one time,” Charles said.

He said that situation is likely to account for some of the negative views of Holness and the party in the current poll.

A total of 1,057 persons aged 18 years and older across the island were interviewed for the survey.

erica.virtue@gleanerjm.com