Alex Borg leads in public poll, but Adrian Delia makes gains

Updated 12.31pm with the candidates' reactions below.

Voters in Malta prefer Alex Borg over Adrian Delia to lead the Nationalist Party at this point in time, according to a new, internal poll leaked to Times of Malta.

Sources close to the PN said figures show Delia enjoys a slight edge over Borg among Nationalist voters, while Borg is the clear favourite among Labour voters.

They also said Delia seems to be gaining ground as the campaign progresses.

The survey, which was carried out last month by statistician Vince Marmarà, asked voters across the country whether they prefer Borg or Delia as leader of the PN. More than a third, 36.6%, said they preferred Borg and 27% preferred Delia.

The poll reveals, however, that over a third of the population has no clear answer. A significant portion of respondents, 16.6%, said neither, 13.3% said they did not know and another 6.4% would not say.

In total, over 36% of all respondents did not express a preference.

Another internal poll leaked last June had already revealed Borg was the clear favourite for leader. But while that poll was carried out among party members (tesserati), this is the first poll that sheds light on how the entire voting population views the two candidates vying to take Bernard Grech’s seat.

The poll was carried out through telephone and mobile interviews among a sample size of 500 individuals aged 16 and over. The sample was selected based on age, gender and district, the poll having a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

Support

Borg’s support is highest in his home district of Gozo and Comino, where he has 44.4% of the vote. His lowest support is in the southeastern district (Birżebbuġa, Gudja, Għaxaq, Kirkop, Safi, Marsascala, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Żejtun and Żurrieq), at 32.8%.

Delia is strongest in the northern district (Għargħur, Mellieħa, Mġarr, Mosta, Naxxar and St Paul’s Bay), with 34.3%. He is the least popular in Gozo, with 15.6%.

The southeastern district also had the highest percentage of people who said they preferred neither of the candidates, at 26.7%.

The survey also broke down the results by age and gender.

Borg’s support is highest among the 16 to 25 age group, at 50%. His support decreases with age, dropping to 25.2% among those aged 66 and over.

Delia’s support remains relatively consistent across all age groups, ranging from a high of 31.8% in the 26-35 age group to a low of 22% in the 56-65 age group.

Borg also enjoys more support among women (38%) than men (35%). Conversely, Delia is more popular among men (29%) than women (26%).

However, men seem to be more undecided than women across the board.

One of the two men will be leader of the Nationalist Party and the opposition in about a month’s time, when the party’s members will vote on who they want to succeed Grech at a time when the ailing party is at one of its most difficult and decisive crossroads in history.

Alex Borg, Adrian Delia welcome 'encouraging' survey result

In a reaction, Alex Borg said the findings of the survey were encouraging and spurred him to work even harder to achieve the change that the country needed.

He said the PN's purpose was and remained that of taking the country forward, and the party therefore needed to be at the country's helm. "We are the party of Malta and the Maltese," he said in a Facebook post.

He said he would continue to work on encouraging more people to approach the PN and to make it the triumphant party that the country needed. 

In a separate Facebook post, Adrian Delia said the survey, like others, confirmed that he enjoyed the confidence of the majority of PN members.

This, he said, was encouraging, as it showed he had a foundation on which to build, so that the party could be united and victorious.

He thanked the members for their growing support, adding that in circumstances where Robert Abela could call an early election, the party and the country needed leadership that was experienced, determined, firm and in the best position to face it.