Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1380662
KURT SANSONE ROBERT Abela's trust rating main- tains its positive run and surpasses the 50% mark for the first time since last September, the MaltaToday sur- vey released today shows. The Prime Minister scores a trust rating of 50.4% in the June survey, an increase of 0.8 points over last month. Bernard Grech's trust rating stands at 29.3%, an improvement of almost four points over his worst perfor- mance last month. However, this is the Nationalist Party leader's second month in a row where he scores less than 30%. The gap between the leaders now stands at 21 points. The survey is characterised by a de- crease in those who trust none of the two leaders and those who are un- sure. While 16.7% (-1.4 points) trust neither Abela nor Grech, 3.5% (-3.1) do not know who to trust. Abela gets the better of Grech across all age groups, all regions and among men and women. The Labour Party leader enjoys a trust rating of 46.3% among those aged between 16 and 35, which con- trasts with Grech's 24.2%, which is his lowest score across all age groups. Abela's strongest showing is among those aged 51 to 65, where he regis- ters a rating of 57.9% On a geographical basis, Abela's strongest showings are in the South- East and Southern Harbour, tradi- tional Labour strongholds, where he scores 60% and 66.6% respectively. On the flipside, these are the regions in which Grech performs the worst. In Gozo, the Prime Minister regis- ters a trust rating of 48.2% as opposed to the Opposition leader's 28.9%. Grech's best performance is in the Western region where he scores 38.5% but still trails Abela by more than four points. The findings suggest that Abela's waning fortunes at the start of the year may have been linked to the COVID-19 crisis that culminated in March when government had to in- troduce strict restrictive measures. Abela's demeanour since then, cou- pled with the two-pronged success in controlling the pandemic and in- oculating people, appear to have left a positive mark on the Prime Minis- ter's trust ratings. Grech appears to have recovered some of the lost ground from last month when he faced yet another in- ternal feud between Jason Azzopardi and Adrian Delia but the numbers suggest the PN leader still struggles to achieve a significant breakthrough. 8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JUNE 2021 MALTATODAYħ SURVEY PN leader's bounce not enough as Abela maintains positive run Abela gets the better of Grech across all age groups, all regions and among men and women Robert Abela Bernard Grech Neither Don't know 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 50.4% 29.3% 16.7% 3.5% 6 June 2021 PP change 9 May 2021 Between Robert Abela and Bernard Grech, who do you trust the most? Full demographics comparing trust between Abela and Grech ALL PL now PN now No vote PL 2017 PN 2017 Didn't vote 2017 Male Female 16-35 36-50 51-65 65+ Primary Secondary Post-sec Tertiary Gozo Northern N Harbour S Eastern S Harbour Western 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 50.4% 29.3% 16.7% 96.3% 92.0% 22.5% 10.6% 66.9% 87.5% 8.4% 9.9% 68.7% 18.4% 21.0% 15.4% 53.6% 10.0% 55.0% 22.2% 19.4% 45.3% 37.3% 13.7% 46.3% 24.2% 24.4% 43.1% 30.2% 24.4% 57.9% 24.5% 14.3% 53.9% 38.3% 68.0% 25.3% 55.7% 31.0% 10.3% 49.0% 21.8% 28.0% 37.0% 32.8% 24.2% 6.1% 48.2% 28.9% 19.1% 46.7% 35.2% 15.0% 41.8% 33.0% 23.1% 60.0% 20.8% 14.7% 66.6% 17.6% 11.1% 42.8% 38.5% 14.8% Robert Abela Bernard Grech None Don't know Which political party would you vote for if an election were to be held tomorrow? Trust Barometer and Political Survey Robert Abela Bernard Grech Neither Don't know 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 50.4% 29.3% 16.7% 3.5% 6 June 2021 PP change 9 May 2021 Between Robert Abela and Bernard Grech, who do you trust the most? Full demographics comparing trust between Abela and Grech ALL PL now PN now No vote PL 2017 PN 2017 Didn't vote 2017 Male Female 16-35 36-50 50.4% 29.3% 16.7% 96.3% 92.0% 22.5% 10.6% 66.9% 87.5% 8.4% 9.9% 68.7% 18.4% 21.0% 15.4% 53.6% 10.0% 55.0% 22.2% 19.4% 45.3% 37.3% 13.7% 46.3% 24.2% 24.4% 43.1% 30.2% 24.4% Robert Abela Bernard Grech None Don't know