JLP sees 'favourable' rebound

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has started to regain lost ground but remains in the doghouse as 52 per cent of Jamaicans have a negative view of it.

The Bruce Golding-led party - which continues to be battered over its handling of the extradition request for Christopher 'Dudus' Coke - has enjoyed a five-percentage-point increase in the number of Jamaicans who have a favourable opinion of it.

However, with a general election constitutionally due by next year, the party has more work to do if it is to convince the five in every 10 Jamaicans who view it unfavourably.

According to the findings of the most recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, 42 per cent of the country has a favourable disposition towards the People's National Party (PNP), while an identical number has a negative view of the Opposition.

The data were collected by Johnson in a national poll which was conducted among 1,008 people on May 28 and 29 and June 4 and 5, 2011. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent.

In the case of the PNP, its present unfavourable rating is the highest in five Johnson polls since August 2007. The portion of the population that has an unfavourable view of the party jumped five percentage points since April last year.

When the PNP entered the 2007 general election, its favourability rating stood at 44 per cent and its unfavourability rating at 42 per cent.

The JLP, on the other hand, has seen its unfavourability rating move from 39 per cent in August 2007, the eve of the general election, to 52 per cent in the most recent survey.

The JLP entered the 2007 general election with a 45 per cent favourability rating.

The Golding-led JLP won 32 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives in the 2007 general election.