Junior minister Chris Bonett says he was referring to the “entire political class” when he described some politicians as “arrogant” after political polls showed Labour is losing public support and Robert Abela is losing trust.

Asked about his comments, the parliamentary secretary for EU funds said he  was not explicitly referring to Labour politicians or the prime minister but was speaking generally.

“There is a feeling that many of us have become arrogant and see everyone as flies,” the MP wrote on Facebook two weeks ago, the same day polls by Times of Malta and MaltaToday showed the PL was losing political support.

“People want us to lead the country but we must do better,” he wrote.

On Monday, Bonett said he was referring to “the entire political class”, adding all politicians need to make a better effort in how they behave and communicate with people.

Bonett was asked if he spoke to Abela on the issue but said he did not want to divulge his conversations with the prime minister.

He was not referring to the prime minister in his post, he insisted.

“The prime minister is doing a great job and he has my full backing. The message was more towards us, who support him”.

The Times of Malta survey published on July 23 showed that Labour continued to shed voters, registering a decrease of almost five per cent since last year’s general election.

Still, Labour would win by just under 18,000 votes, according to the survey.

Abela also lost trust among voters, the survey showed.

A MaltaToday survey published on the same day put the Nationalist Party ahead of Labour for the first time in 15 years.

The survey showed support for the PN standing at 30.2 per cent against the PL’s 29.6 per cent.

But both surveys show that the PN failed to capture many voters.