Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1540090
THE Labour Party is leading the Na- tionalist Party by a tight three-point margin in the first MaltaToday survey after Alex Borg's election as National- ist leader. The results from MaltaToday's October survey released today put the PL's support at 48.8% against the PN's 45.9%. The third-party vote stood at 5.4%, including ADPD (2.4%) and Momentum (2%). The results based on a sample of 741 respondents contacted over the past two weeks are based on a pro- jected turnout of 81.6%. This means the PL is leading by 8,394 votes. The difference between the two main parties is within the survey's margin of error (+/-3.6 points). The range is such that the difference be- tween the two main parties could be anything between a 4.2-point lead for the PN and 10.2-point lead for the PL. The survey suggests a remarkable change since June when Labour was leading the PN by a staggering 13.6 points. The survey was held before Bernard Grech's resignation as PN leader. Today's results could reflect a honeymoon boost for Grech's suc- cessor, especially among younger voters. The gap today is similar to that be- tween the main parties in the 2024 MEP elections. Moreover, a survey published by MaltaToday around this time last year had the PN lead- ing by 2.9 points. The situation even- tually changed after the budget with Labour first levelling with the PN in November 2024 and then overtaking the PN by more substantial margins in all surveys carried out in 2025. Compared to last June's survey, the PL has lost 4.5 points, while the PN has gained 6.1 points. In the same timeframe the percentage of non-voters has decreased by 1.3 points. The PL has seen a significant in- crease (3.2 points) in non-voters among those who voted for it in the 2022 general election—these in- creased from 6.7% in June to 9.9% now. But Labour's losses are also compounded by a small shift from the PL to the PN. In a sign of renewed enthusiasm under its new leader the survey al- so shows that the percentage of non-voters among PN voters de- creasing from 10.5% in June to 5.2%. The PN now retains more of its 2022 votes than the PL does, con- trary to what was the case in June. While in June the PL retained 87.2% of its votes and the PN retained 82.1%, now the PN is retaining 86.1% of its voters while the PL is retaining 81.1%. This possibly suggests that enthu- siasm for the ruling party has waned in the past months. Small shift from PL to PN The survey suggests that the PN is making small but significant inroads among PL voters. The survey shows that while 7.8% mt SURVEY maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 OCTOBER 2025 7 Alex Borg effect sees Labour's lead shrink to three points JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt >> CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE PL 48.8% ADPD 2.4% Momentum 2.0% PN 45.9% Others 1.0% Age Gender Region Education 2022 Voters 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% Voting Intentions All Voters June 2025