Opposition Leader Bernard Grech has failed to make any significant inroads across different voter groups, according to the latest Times of Malta survey.

Grech registered a trust rating of 3.7 out of 10 in the latest survey, identical to that registered in the previous edition of the survey in March.

His trust rating remains lower than that of Prime Minister Robert Abela, who scored 4.3, although the gap between the two has now narrowed.

Notably, Grech’s trust rating has dipped most amongst voters who either voted for PN in last year’s election or say they would vote Nationalist if an election were held tomorrow.

On the other hand, his trust rating amongst PL voters and people who did not vote in the last election remains virtually unchanged.

In practice, Grech has not gained support among any voter group over the past four months with one notable exception, namely people who would vote for PN today. His trust rating among this group has inched upwards from 6.4 in March to 6.6 today.

Grech in Metsola’s shadow, while Delia loses support

Roberta Metsola remains the overwhelming choice for PN leader, with 25% of all voters listing her as their preference, as compared to just over 11% for Grech.

A further 11% list former PN leader Adrian Delia as their preferred choice, a significant drop from the 18.5% registered in March, when Delia was riding high on his successful campaign to have the hospitals' contract rescinded.

This means that Delia now lies in third place, marginally behind Grech.

Several other candidates, including Joe Giglio, Alex Borg, Chris Said, Mark Anthony Sammut, Franco Debono and Jason Azzopardi were mentioned, however, none received more than 1% of all preferences.

Likewise, former leaders Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil also received token mentions.

Only 1% of non-voters want Grech as PN leader

A miserly 1.4% of people who did not vote in last year’s election list Bernard Grech as their preferred PN leader, far fewer than the almost 22% who want Metsola and 10% supporting Delia.

Grech enjoys far greater support among PN voters, 29% of whom think he should lead the party, however, he still trails Metsola’s 37%. Delia is a distant third, with just under 13% of PN voters wanting him in charge.

On the other hand, Delia is the most popular PN leader among Labour voters, with one in four saying he should be at the party’s helm, ahead of Metsola at 19%. Grech is by far the least popular of the three amongst PL voters, with just 4% saying he should lead the party.

Younger voters prefer Metsola and Delia to Grech

The survey reveals that Grech holds greater appeal among older voters, with most people under the age of 45 preferring both Metsola and Delia to Grech.

On the other hand, Grech holds a slight lead with voters over the age of 55. Delia was previously the preferred choice among this age group, but he is now vying for a second place together with Metsola.

The survey, carried out by market research firm Esprimi, collected responses between July 14 and 19, based on a sample of 525 respondents.