Just under half of Jamaicans believe Andrew Holness is doing an above average job as Prime Minister.
That’s a 13-percentage point improvement in the Prime Minister’s job approval rating since March this year.
That’s according to the Nationwide/Bluedot polls, powered by Total Tools.
Ricardo Brooks reports:
In March 2023, Andrew Holness was facing a grim job assessment from the electorate.
At that time, only 32% of Jamaicans believed he was doing an above average job as Prime Minister of Jamaica.
His job approval had plunged 11-percentage points from the 43% recorded in 2021 and 2022.
It now appears Andrew is on the rebound.
When the Bluedot pollsters asked 1,294 Jamaicans to rate the performance of the Prime Minister where 0 was extremely poor and 10 was exceptional, 45.5% of respondents returned an above average grade for Mr. Holness.
That’s a 13-percentage point jump in Holness’ performance rating since March 2023.
It’s also more than double the positive job performance rating of Opposition Leader, Mark Golding at 22.4%.
12% of respondents graded Holness at a 6…..
Almost 14% gave the Prime Minister a 7…..
9% rated him at 8….
3% rated him at 9 and 8% of respondents gave the Prime Minister the exceptional grade of 10.
Almost 18% of respondents rated the Prime Minister at an average grade of 5.
On the lower side of the ratings, the Prime Minister picked up a 4 from 8% of respondents….
6% of those surveyed gave him 3….
4% rated him at 2….
6% gave him a 1
And just over 12% rated the Prime Minister at the lowest grade of 0.
That’s a combined below average score of almost 37%.
Holness’ highest positive job performance rating came from the age group 18 to 24. They rated him at an above average score of 6 and 7 totaling just below 15%.
At the same time, that demographic also returned a combined below average rating of just below 17%.
The Prime Minister also received a perfect score of 10 from a combined 11.5% of respondents 65 years and older.
Across most demographics, the Prime Minister was graded as doing an average job, totaling more than 20%, with those 18-24 giving a near 30% combined rating of 5.
When gender is considered, the Prime Minister receives his lowest rating of 0 from a combined total of 13% of women voters, while male voters gave him his highest positive rating of 6.
The Prime Minister receives the single lowest job approval rating in the parish of St. Ann, where 22% of respondents rated him at a 3.
There are also warning signs in St. Elizabeth where more than 20% believe the Prime Minister is doing a below average job.
Holness’ single highest performance rating is recorded in St. James and Trelawny where more than 19% and 12% rated him at a 7 and 6 respectively.
He is also showing strength in Hanover where more than 10% of respondents gave him a perfect score of 10.
With just over four months until the first electoral test of the Holness administration since 2020, how much will those numbers factor when Jamaicans go to the polls?
The Nationwide/Bluedot poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.75%. It was conducted between August 18 and September 7, 2023.
94% of the respondents are registered voters.
