Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1504229
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JULY 2023 SURVEY JAMES DEBONO THE Nationalist Party may have overtaken the Labour Party in the polls but MaltaToday's Ju- ly survey shows little has changed in the trust enjoyed by the two leaders. Robert Abela's trust rating now stands at 39.2%, an increase of 2.1 points, while Bernard Grech scores 26.8%, an increase of 1.3 points. Grech's failure to catch up with Abela can be partly explained by the fact that 18.1% of current PN voters do not trust either political leader while only 2.2% of current PL voters trust neither leader. Moreover, while 97.1% of current PL voters trust Abela only 81% of PN voters trust Grech. But while Abela enjoys a strong trust rating among current PL voters, a substantial 17% of PL voters in the 2022 general election trust nei- ther of the two leaders. But distrust in Grech among the cohort of PN voters in 2022 is even higher at 28.3%. The survey shows Abela leading Grech by 12.4 points, up from 11.6 points in May. Despite the turmoil of the past two weeks, which appears to have hit the PL fortunes, the survey shows Abela gaining ground. The increase in trust for the two leaders comes amidst a small 0.8-point decrease among those who trust neither leader and a more substantial 2.6-point decrease among re- spondents who are undecided on who to trust between the two leaders. While Abela registers a trust boost, the Prime Minister has still not recovered from his first major poll setback in March following the rev- ocation of the Stewards concession by the law courts a month earlier. Abela's trust rating had declined from 45% in February to 34.3% in March only to increase to 37.1% in May and 39.2% now. On the other hand, Bernard Grech's trust rating had increased by seven points since Feb- ruary. Abela 10 points more popular than his party Significantly Abela remains substantial- ly more popular than his party. While only 29.6% will vote Labour, 39.2% trust Abela. This suggests the Prime Minister is nearly 10 points more popular than his party. In contrast, while 30.2% will vote PN, Grech trails his party by 3.4 points. This suggests that Labour has more room to grow among respondents who are presently undecided or intent on not voting than the PN. One clear indication that present non-voters could lean towards Labour is that within this category Abela is trusted by 18.5% of voters in contrast to just 4.2% who trust Grech. But in an indication that non-voters can be a hard nut to crack for both parties, a substantial 75.1% trust neither leader. But the survey also shows Grech making more inroads among Labour voters than Abela does among PN voters. While 3.6% of Labour voters in 2022 now trust Grech, 3.1% of 2022 PN voters trust Ab- ela. 53% of under 35 year olds trust neither leader As was the case in May the survey shows that an absolute majority of respondents (52.6%) aged between 16 and 35 trust neither of the two political leaders. But the survey also shows Grech trailing Abela by a substantial 17.3 points among the youngest age group, in another indication of the PN's leader's failure to communicate with this cohort of voters. Significantly, Abela leads Grech among all age groups with the PN leader registering his best trust rating among those over 65 years. Among this category Abela leads Grech by 8.5 points. Abela also beats Grech in all geographical regions but the gap between the two leaders ranges from 2.7 points in the Northern region to a staggering 34.4 points in the South-East- ern region. In Gozo the trust gap between the two leader amounts to just 2.7 points. The largest percentage of respondents who trust neither of the two leaders is found in the Northern Harbour region (38.5%) and the Western region (42.5%). Grech leads among tertiary educated The survey shows a sharp divide between the tertiary educated who lean towards Grech and the rest of the population that lean towards Abela. Abela leads Grech amongst all educational cohorts except the tertiary educated where the Opposition leader enjoys a lead of 14.2 points. Among this cohort, Abela registers a dismal trust rating of 19.5%. But among this catego- ry a staggering 46.8% trust neither of the two leaders. Among the secondary educated Abela en- joys a 24.5-point lead over Grech. In this cat- egory, the percentage who trust neither leader falls to 29.1%. Abela also enjoys a substantial 20.2-point advantage among those with a post-secondary education. Abela retains strong lead over Grech