Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/408403
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2014 17 has also seen a 10-point drop in approval. This can be attributed to the fact that 38% of all respondents and 46% of Labour voters replied don't know when asked to assess his performance. On the other hand only 8% of all respondents and 24% of PN voters gave Grech a negative as- sessment. Foreign Minister George Vella also gets a very low negative rat- ing (6%) but 30% could not rate his performance. Home Affairs Minister Man- wel Mallia, who is constantly the target of the opposition, has also seen a significant 12-point drop in positive ratings among PL voters. Despite sponsoring potentially controversial legislation on civil unions, Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli has seen a slight in- crease in approval among both PL and PN voters. Muscat 14 points ahead Despite his government's slump in popularity, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat retains a strong lead over opposition leader Simon Busuttil. The survey coincided with last week's PN con- vention, whose highlight was an 80-minute land- mark speech in which Busuttil tried to reinvent himself as a fresher and more determined leader. The survey suggests that despite narrowing the gap by three points when compared to March (the last political survey held before the MEP elections), Busuttil still has a long way to go. The surveys shows both leaders enjoying the trust of 85% of their respective voters in 2013. During the MEP election campaign when the political leaders tend to attract higher trust ratings due to higher vis- ibility, the trust gap between the two leaders oscillated be- tween 10 and 16 points. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has seen his approval rate drop by three points, a much lower fall than that registered by the rest of the cabinet. But the 45% approval rating is the lowest since April, 2013 when Muscat enjoyed an ap- proval rating of 59%. Methodology The survey was conducted be- tween Monday 27 and Thursday, 30 October among 450 randomly selected respondents. The survey has a margin of error of +/-4.6 percentage points. MaltaToday Survey Trust gap between the leaders Trust gap between leaders Trust for Joseph Muscat Trust for Simon Busuttil Louis Grech Deputy PM Michael Farrugia Social Policy Minister Konrad Mizzi Energy Minister Edward Zammit Lewis Tourism Minister Owen Bonnici Justice Minister Edward Scicluna Finance minister mt survey Trust barometer since election of Simon Busuttil as PN leader [April and May surveys coincided with generally higher trust ratings for both leaders due to campaigning during European Parliament elections] Assessment of Joseph Muscat's performance as Prime Minster since April 2013