NNN/Bluedot Poll: 51% of Voters Believe JLP Best Equipped to Address Ja’s Problems

A clear majority of registered voters now believe the governing Jamaica Labour Party, JLP, is best equipped to address the main problems facing the country.

That’s according to the Nationwide/Bluedot polls, powered by Total Tools.

Fifty-one per cent of Jamaicans say they believe the Andrew Holness-led JLP is the best party to solve the problems of crime, unemployment and cost of living. That number has risen sharply in the last three months, when only 37 per cent of voters held that view.

Ricardo Brooks has been tracking the data.

The Holness-led JLP has been touting what it says is a record of performance and achievement over its near decade long stint in government.

The prime minister himself has asked voters to reflect on which of the two political parties are best suited to get the job done.

It seems Jamaicans are now clear on an answer.

When the Bluedot pollsters asked 1,618 registered voters between May 2 and 17, which party they believed could successfully address the main problems facing Jamaica, the response was unequivocal.

Fifty-one per cent of them said the JLP. That’s a 14 point jump since February this year, when 37 per cent placed their confidence in the JLP’s ability.

Notably, the JLP’s strength on this question has risen by 23 points since February of 2023, when it recorded the lowest confidence level of 28 per cent.

The pollsters say the significant increase in confidence suggests voters are fast making up their minds and choosing between two governing visions.

The People’s National Party, PNP, has also seen an increase in public confidence in their ability to tackle the country’s biggest problems, rising by seven points over the last three months. The party moved from 25 per cent then, to 32 per cent now.

It’s the highest level of public confidence seen in these polls regarding the PNP’s ability to successfully govern. The PNP has increased by 12 points in voter confidence since 2023.

But it’s still dwarfed by the JLP’s 19 point lead on the question of confidence. That’s well outside the margin of error of 2.3 per cent.

Seventeen per cent of respondents were undecided about which party was best suited to deal with the country’s problems. But that figure has fallen from a high of 52 per cent back in 2023.

This may give credence to the observation of the pollsters that a strong majority of voters have indeed made up their minds ahead of this year’s general election.

In fact, the data suggests that for the first time in these polls, the confidence being expressed in both major political parties has surpassed 80 per cent.

If the JLP’s general secretary, Dr. Horace Chang is right, and the record of achievement will indeed be decisive in the coming elections, the prime minister may well be dusting off his calendar and checking the available dates.

In June? July? August? Or September?

Only Holness knows.