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JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt mt SURVEY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 NOVEMBER 2024 ry that leaned towards Labour in the past decade. In this strategic category, where 38.6% intend to abstain, the PN is leading by nearly 10 points, up from five points in September. The PN's lead is more solid among the tertiary-educated, where the par- ty commands the support of 42.8%, in contrast to Labour's abysmal 19.7%. However, in an indication that Labour still enjoys widespread working-class support, the party leads by 13.4 points among those with a secondary level of education. Moreover, among those with a primary level of education – a category mostly composed of older re- spondents with a low level of education – support for Labour peaks at 56.1%. The survey also indicates a substantial gender gap with the PN leading the PL by 4.5 points among women while trail- ing Labour by 2.3 points among men. Voting intentions by age Voting intentions by gender Voting intentions by education Voting intentions by region DESPITE the Labour Party trailing the Nationalist Party in the polls, the perfor- mance of the government led by Robert Abela is still perceived as satisfactory by a majority of respondents. Respondents were asked to rate the government led by Robert Abela on a scale from 0 (very negative) to 5 (very positive). This resulted in an average score of 2.7, up from 2.6 in September before the budget. Moreover, 60.3% of respondents gave the government a rating of 3 points or more, while only 39.7% rated the gov- ernment at 2 points or lower. Not surprisingly, the government received its lowest score (1.6) among current PN voters and its highest score among current PL voters (3.9). Among the current group of non-voters, the government was rated at 2.6 up from 2.4 in September. A breakdown by age shows that the government is viewed most favour- ably by those aged over 65 who give it a rating of 2.9 followed by those aged between 51 and 65 who give it a rating of 2.8. The government is judged most unfavourably by respondents aged un- der 50 who rate it at 2.5. Regionally, the government received its highest rating in the country's South-eastern region (3.1) and its lowest rating in Gozo (2.4). A breakdown by education shows the government receiving its lowest rating among the tertiary educated (2.4), fol- lowed by the post-secondary educated (2.6). Its highest ratings came from the secondary educated (2.8) and those with a primary level of education (3.3). Women, who gave the government a score of 2.6, were slightly less positive than men, who gave the government an average performance rating of 2.8. Government Performance Barometer Abela's administration scores 2.7 out of 5