Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536175
mt SURVEY SUNDAY • 8 JUNE 2025 | maltatoday 8 Abela trounces Grech with 31-point trust lead ROBERT Abela is trusted by half the voters in a one-on-one with Bernard Grech, who is now trusted by less than a fifth of voters. The results from MaltaToday's Trust Barometer for June show that Abela is trusted by 50%, up 3.5 points since April, while Grech's rating has dropped by 1.2 points. Grech's rating at 18.8% is the worst result since February 2024 when he re- ceived a rating of 16.7%. Grech's drop in the trust barometer coincided with rumours spread by the Labour media and denied by the PN of his imminent resignation. The decline in Grech's rating since the last survey is mostly attributable to an increase in Abela's rating since the per- centage of those who trust neither lead- er has decreased by 2.3 points. The trust gap between Abela and Grech has increased from 16 points in September 2024 to 18 points in No- vember to 22 points in February 2025, to 27 points in April and a staggering 31.2 points now. While the survey confirms Abela's strong advantage over Grech, it also suggests that Grech's poor rating is not deterring a sizeable number of voters, who trust neither of the two leaders, from voting for the PN if an election is held now. In fact, 42.7% of current PN voters trust neither leader and 5% trust Abela more than Grech but would still vote PN. And while only 52.3% of current PN voters trust Grech, a staggering 98.4% of current Labour voters trust Abela. What is definitely bad news for the Nationalists is Grech's extremely low standing among current non-voters. This is a strategic category where the PN needs to make inroads to secure victory in the next general election. In this sizeable category, only 5.1% trust Grech to run the country, while 23.8% trust Abela. This suggests that if trust is a factor that determines voting pref- erence in this vital category, the PL has more room to grow than the PN does. Abela leads in all six regions Despite Labour trailing the PN in two out of six regions, Abela leads Grech in all regions, including Gozo. In Gozo, although the PN is leading, trust in the Opposition leader has dipped from 36.9% in February to 19.4% in April to just 16.4% now. In this region, the per- centage who trust neither leader peaks at 44.8%. Grech registers his lowest trust rating in the South Eastern region where he is only trusted by a meagre 7.5%. On the other hand, he enjoys his highest trust rating in the Western region (25.9%) and the North Harbour (24.9%). Meanwhile, Abela's trust rating rang- es from 38.7% in Gozo to a staggering 66.9% in the South Harbour region, which includes the PL's Cottonera stronghold. Only 10% of young voters trust Grech In a clear indication of Grech's fail- ure to communicate with young vot- ers, the PN leader's trust rating among under 35-year-olds has decreased from 12.1% to just 9.6%. Grech's trust rating remains abysmal (12.7%) among 36- to 55-year-olds but increases to 34% among pensioners. Abela registers his highest trust rat- ing (58.2%) among those in the 51 to 65 years bracket. His trust rating in other age groups ranges between 46% and 49%. Abela more trusted by males The survey once again shows that Abela is more trusted by males (53.1%) than by females (48.3%). Converse- ly, Grech is trusted more by females (21.3%) than males (16.2%). Abela is also more trusted than Grech in all educational groups. But an abso- lute majority of the tertiary educated (51.5%) trusts neither of the two lead- ers. An absolute majority, ranging from 52% among those with a post-second- ary level of education to 61% among those with a primary level of education trusts Abela. But the PL leader is on- ly trusted by 34.6% among those with a tertiary level of education. The bad news for the PN is that Grech is only trusted by 13.9% in this category. JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0 PL 2022 PN 2022 No vote 2022 87.6% 3.4% 1.3% 0.2% 1.2% 6.7% 1.4% 82.1% 2.9% 1.7% 1.5% 10.5% 16% 5.2% 2% 0.6% 1.2% 75% PL PN Momentum ADPD Other Will not vote Current voters 110% 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 96.2% 58.3% 38.1% 25.3% 72.2% Trust Barometer Robert Abela Bernard Grech None 0 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 50% 18.8% 31.2% All Voters