Trust in Prime Minister Robert Abela has dropped to an all-time low, according to the latest Times of Malta survey.

The poll finds that Abela now has a trust rating of just 4.3 out of 10, compared to the rating of 5 registered in March of this year.

Abela’s trust rating had previously never dipped below 6.5.

Nonetheless, trust in Abela still exceeds that in opposition leader Bernard Grech, whose trust rating of 3.7 remains virtually unchanged from previous polls.

Abela’s waning popularity has seen the gap between the two parties drop by 5,000 votes over the past four months, with just under 18,000 votes now separating PL from PN. 

The Labour Party won last year's general election by almost 40,000 votes.

Trust in Abela dips among all voter groups

Abela’s trust rating has dipped amongst PN, PL and non-voters alike, with all these groups registering lower levels of trust compared to four months ago.

While Abela’s trust rating among PL voters stood at 6.8 in March, this has now dipped to just under 6.5.

Trust in Abela dropped most significantly among people who did not vote in last year’s election, dropping from 3.7 in March to just 3 today.

Abela’s trust rating amongst non-voters is now identical to that of Grech, who himself has failed to make any inroads among this voter group.

Under half PL voters think Abela should lead the party

Internal support for Abela also seems to be on the wane, with fewer than half PL voters now saying that he should be the party’s leader. This is a drop of almost 10 percentage points from the 50% registered in March.

In total, fewer than one of all five voters now believe that Abela should be the leader of the Labour Party, a drop of almost 12 percentage points since March.

Meanwhile, people who did not vote in last year’s election would rather see Abela’s predecessor Joseph Muscat at the helm of the party, with just 6% of this group supporting Abela compared to 11% for Muscat.

Nevertheless, Abela remains the most popular PL leader on the whole, with no other candidate mounting a serious challenge. Muscat lies in second place, with 10% of all voters thinking he should lead the party.

Other names mentioned include Chris Fearne, Miriam Dalli, Clyde Caruana and Conrad Borg Manché, although none registered more than 2.5% of the total vote.

Curiously, PL stalwarts Alfred Sant and Marie Louise Coleiro Preca also make token appearances in this list, with some pining for a return to days gone by.

Muscat more popular among those who plan to vote for PN

Abela remains the top choice among most age groups, although voters between the ages of 25 and 34 now say that they have a slight preference for Joseph Muscat.

Abela generally enjoys stronger support among older voters than he does with people under 45.

Muscat is also the more popular choice among people who say that they would vote for PN if an election were held tomorrow, as well as those who say they would not vote at all.

Nevertheless, these voters still overwhelmingly say that they would prefer neither Abela nor Muscat to be at the party’s helm.

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