NNN/Bluedot Poll: Trust in Holness Remains High at 47%

A plurality of Jamaicans, 47 per cent, appear to have settled in their minds that they trust Prime Minister, Dr. Andrew Holness. That’s according to the latest Nationwide/Bluedot polls, powered by Total Tools.

That 47 per cent slice of the population has held steady across three polling cycles, stretching back to September last year.

Daina Davy has more in this report.

The stable 47 per cent who say they trust the prime minster represents a rebound from the low of 40 per cent registered in September 2023.

At that time, more than half of Jamaicans said they did not trust Andrew Holness. But since last year’s edition of these polls, distrust in Holness has been receding.

It now stands at 42 per cent. Eleven per cent of respondents were unsure.

The pollsters say this suggests perceptions of Holness and his leadership are now entrenched in the population.

When gender is considered, Dr. Holness has experienced some slipping in trust with women voters, falling from 48 per cent three months ago, to 45 per cent in these polls.

Forty-two per cent of women say they distrust Holness. That’s a two point uptick since February. It’s also within the poll’s margin of error of 2.3 per cent.

At the same time, Holness has inched ahead in the estimation of men, a demographic he has not had strong trust with in these polls. But over the last three months, the prime minister has managed to move up by three points on the trust scale with men.

If there is any cause for concern for the prime minister, it’s that older millennial voters are expressing the highest level of distrust in him.

Forty-eight per cent of voters age 35-to-44 say they do not trust the prime minister. That’s six points higher than those in the same cohort who expressed trust in him.

Holness’ highest level of trust with the electorate is to be found among voters aged 45-to-64, registering a majority of 52 per cent.

Voters 45-to-54 recorded a seven point increase in their trust for the prime minister over the last three months.

Younger voters 18-to-24-years-old saw a negligible fall in trust in the prime minister, falling from 49 per cent in February to 48 per cent in these polls.

When political affiliation is factored in, Holness has seen a marginal two point increase in trust among Labourites over the last three months, moving from 84 per cent to 86 per cent.

Ten per cent of Labourites do not trust Holness.

Comrades are still expressing significant distrust in the prime minister, with 75 per cent indicating they do not trust him. Only 17 per cent of People’s National Party supporters expressed trust in the prime minister.

The Nationwide/Bluedot polls were conducted between May 2 and 17 among 1,618 registered voters.