For the first time since he was re-elected in 2020, the number of Jamaicans who view Prime Minister Andrew Holness as a poor performer, is greater than those who think he is a good performer.
That’s according to the latest Nationwide/Bluedot poll, powered by Total Tools.
The poll, which was conducted between February 27 and March 7 across all 63 constituencies, has a margin of error of 2.7%.
Ricardo Brooks has more in this report.
The dub plate of a confident Andrew Holness seeking a second term in government in August 2020. Jamaicans responded by handing him a super majority in the House of Representatives.
That victory was built on the message that one good term deserved another, and Andrew was the builder. He was sold as a top performer.
But three years on, it appears sections of the electorate are having buyer’s remorse.
The Bluedot pollsters asked 1,207 Jamaicans to rate the Prime Minister’s performance from extremely poor to exceptional, with extremely poor being a zero and exceptional being a 10.
Thirty seven percent of the respondents say Andrew Holness is a poor performer. Those Jamaicans gave the self-styled ‘builder’ a failing grade of between zero and four.
A clear 13% of that number gave the Prime Minister the lowest grade of zero. Thirty percent of Jamaicans feel Holness is doing an average job, rating him between five and six.
The West Central St. Andrew MP and two-term Prime Minister, was viewed as doing a good job by 32 percent of Jamaicans. They gave him a grade of between seven and 10.
Six-percent of the respondents gave Andrew Holness a perfect score of 10.
Those numbers relate to early 2023.
But the three-year trend assessment shows a Prime Minister who’s swimming against a rising political tide.
In 2021, 43% of Jamaicans thought Andrew Holness was doing a good job at Jamaica House. That figure held steady in 2022, coming in again at 43%.
But after a series of missteps by his government this year, Holness’ good performance rating has plunged by 11 points to 32%.
At the same time, there’s been a marked increase in those who have soured on the Prime Minister, moving his poor performance rating from 27% last year to 37% in 2023. It was 26% in 2021.
Over the last three years, those who feel neutral about the job the Prime Minister has done, have held steady at 30%.
In summation, the number of Jamaicans who rate the Prime Minister as doing a good job, over the three year period 2021 to 23, declined by 11 percentage points.
The number who are neutral about his performance over that period has remained steady, 30% in all three years.
But those who think he is doing a poor job has increased by 11-percentage points over the three years.
The question now is whether after a marathon budget presentation Thursday evening the Prime Minister can change hearts and minds.
