Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1448619
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 FEBRUARY 2022 MALTATODAY SURVEY Robert Abela Bernard Grech Neither Don't know 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 45.1% 30.3% 4.3pp 21.3% 3.3% 6 Feb 2022 pp change 16 Jan 2021 Between Robert Abela and Bernard Grech, who do you trust the most? Full demographics comparing trust between Abela and Grech OVERALL PL now PN now Will not vote now Uncertain 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 45.1% 30.3% 21.3% 96.9% 89.2% 6.5% 8.1% 89.6% 6.8% 9.7% 67.0% 16.5% 84.1% 12.1% 71.2% 23.0% 18.1% 10.4% 63.4% 8.0% 45.2% 30.5% 22.4% 45.2% 30.0% 20.0% 38.7% 22.8% 35.8% 46.3% 23.4% 27.3% 52.9% 30.9% 14.3% 43.6% 42.4% 8.7% 54.2% 31.4% 10.5% 54.2% 29.7% 14.2% 48.3% 23.8% 24.0% 28.4% 33.7% 33.5% 48.5% 22.3% 20.2% 9.1% 36.1% 37.1% 24.6% 37.8% 42.1% 15.2% 55.1% 22.3% 22.6% 61.4% 10.9% 24.0% 37.8% 35.6% 25.1% Robert Abela Bernard Grech None Don't know Which political party would you vote for if KURT SANSONE ROBERT Abela's trust rating has declined for the second consecutive month and now stands at 45.1% as a resurgent Bernard Grech cuts the gap to 15 points. The February MaltaToday survey shows that Abela had two points knocked off his trust rating from the previous month, while Grech increased his tally by four points to 30.3%. The trust gap between the leaders in February is down to 14.8 points from 21.3 points last month. How- ever, this is still not the closest gap between the leaders since in March last year when Abela flunked on the back of rising COVID-19 cases, the difference stood at five points. Yet, 21.3% of voters, trust none of the two leaders – a figure that has remained relatively static from last month. A demographic breakdown of the numbers shows that Abela leads Grech in all age groups. But the Prime Minister's comfortable lead is reduced to a hairline among pen- sioners, where Grech has made ma- jor inroads. Grech's performance among the elderly reflects the num- bers for his party. Results for these subgroups have to be treated with caution since the margins of error are much high- er than the overall sample but the movement towards Grech and the PN among the elderly does suggest a level of disquiet with government among pensioners. Among those aged 16 to 35, Abela enjoys a trust rating of 38.7% against Grech's 22.8%. However, this is also the cohort with the highest percent- age of voters who trust none of the two leaders – 35.8%. A geographical breakdown of re- sults shows that Abela leads in four regions, while Grech emerges ahead in two. The Prime Minister wins absolute majorities in the Southern Harbour and South-Eastern regions, and relative majorities in Gozo and the Western region. The PN leader wins relative majorities in the Northern Harbour and Northern regions. Abela enjoys the trust of 84.1% of those who voted for the PL in the 2017 general election, while Grech is trusted by 71.2% of those who voted PN. There are 2.3% of Nationalists who trust Abela and 2.1% of Labourites who trust Grech. But there are 23% of PN voters – almost double those of the PL – who trust none of the two leaders. Abela remains more popular than the PL, while Grech trails his own party. Methodology: The survey was car- ried out between Monday 31 January 2022 and Friday 4 February 2022. 643 respondents opted to complete the survey. Stratified random sam- pling based on region, age and gen- der was used to replicate the Mal- tese demographic. The estimated margin of error is 4.2% for a confi- dence interval of 95% for the overall results. Demographic and sub-group breakdowns have significantly larg- er margins of error. Grech's trust up as Abela experiences second consecutive decline