NNN/Bluedot Poll: Holness Enjoys Highest Approval Rating in St Elizabeth, Hanover

Prime Minister and Member of Parliament for St. Andrew West Central, Dr. Andrew Holness, lends a hand to workmen carrying out a beautification project at Bay Farm Villa in his constituency on Labour Day (May 23). (Yhomo Hutchinson/JIS)

Voters in St. Elizabeth and Hanover have given Prime Minister Dr. Andrew Holness his highest job approval rating across the 14 parishes.

But there’s trouble for the Jamaica Labour Party, JLP, in St. Mary, where 38 per cent of voters say Holness has been poor at his job. That’s the highest poor rating he receives in any parish.

Holness enjoys a net positive approval rating in 11 of the 13 parishes, as Kingston and St. Andrew is grouped as one.

In Trelawny, his net positive rating is zero as 29 per cent rate him good and poor.

Mahiri Stewart has the breakdown.

Forty-eight per cent of voters in the breadbasket parish of St. Elizabeth and the northwestern parish of Hanover say Andrew Holness has been a good prime minister.

Twenty-three per cent of voters in St. Elizabeth say he’s been poor at the job, while 17 per cent in Hanover feel the same.

Forty-five per cent of Clarendon voters say Holness has done a good job, while 20 per cent say he has been poor at it.

In Kingston and St. Andrew, Portland, St. James, St. Thomas and Westmoreland Holness’ job approval rating is above 40 per cent. Those who think he has been doing a poor job is at 22 per cent or less across those parishes.

In Manchester, his positive approval hits 38 per cent, with 28 per cent saying he has been poor at it. The positive rating stands at 33 per cent in St. Ann, 23 per cent gave Holness a poor rating.

But St. Mary stands out in stark contrast. Voters there are sour on Holness’ job approval. More than a third of them, 38 per cent, say he has been a poor prime minister.

With 35 per cent saying he has been a good prime minister, Holness has a net poor job approval rating of 3 per cent in St. Mary.

This cannot be good news for the JLP chairman Robert Montague in Western St. Mary, or the State Minister of Labour, Norman Dunn in South East St. Mary.

Both are trying to fend off strong People’s National Party challengers in their seats.

If conventional wisdom holds and voters vote based on their assessment of the party leaders, those challengers may prevail when the votes are counted.

It’s to be seen.