Golding's overall ratings climb but so does 'very poor' ranking

Almost two years after rising to the zenith of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), 61 per cent of Jamaicans surveyed have given Mark Golding a passing grade in the post.

The results were obtained from the latest Don Anderson poll, commissioned by the RJRGLEANER Communications Group between July 16 and July 25.

The results had a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

Of the 1,113 Jamaicans of voting age surveyed, seven per cent rated the performance of Golding as very good, a five-percentage-point increase over his 2021 rating.

Eleven per cent said the PNP president's performance was good, translating to a two-percentage-point increase over 2021.

There was a two-percentage-point increase in the figure for those who rated his performance as average to 43 per cent.

Golding's poor rating as opposition leader decreased by 10 percentage points since last year, with 21 per cent of those surveyed still not impressed by his 'poor' leadership.

Eighteen per cent of those polled rated his performance as very poor. This represents an increase of two percentage points over 2021's figure.

A year ago, Golding told The Gleaner that his poor rating, while not surprising, was due to a lack of visibility on the ground with COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Government being the root cause.

The opposition leader has a seven-percentage-point positive performance rating over his party, which Jamaicans gave a 54 per cent pass rating.

Six per cent said that the PNP was performing very good; 10 per cent said good; 38 per cent said average; 26 per cent said poor; and 20 per cent said very poor.

In 2021, two per cent of the 1,003 Jamaicans polled between August 19 and September 3 had indicated that the party was performing very good, eight per cent said good, the same 38 per cent ranked its performance as average, 33 per cent had rated it as poor, and 19 per cent very poor.

The governing Jamaica Labour Party continues to outperform the opposition party, with 70 per cent of those polled giving it a passing grade.

Thirty-seven per cent said that the Government was performing average, 23 per cent said its performance was very good, while 10 per cent said good.

The remaining 30 per cent assessed the Government's performance as below average, with 16 per cent giving it a poor rating and 14 per cent saying it was very poor.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness' performance rating ranks three percentage points higher than his party's, with 73 per cent of those surveyed giving him a passing grade.

Thirteen per cent said that his performance was very good, 25 per cent said good, 35 per cent said average, 14 per cent rated his leadership as very poor, and 13 per cent said poor.

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