Bernard Grech’s popularity has dipped below that of former PN leader Adrian Delia, who both trail Roberta Metsola, according to a new Times of Malta survey.
The survey, carried out by market research firm Esprimi between October 14 and 26, coincided with the court’s decision to uphold its original judgment to rescind the hospitals concession awarded to Steward Healthcare. This was a case spearheaded by Delia.
Grech’s popularity amongst voters has dipped from a little over 11% in July, to 8.4% today. Meanwhile, Delia’s popularity has remained constant, hovering around the 11% mark. Delia had registered a high of over 18% back in March, shortly after the initial landmark judgment to annul the hospitals’ concession.
This suggests that rather than losing support to Delia, Grech’s supporters are more likely to be moving towards European President Roberta Metsola, whose popularity has continued to surge.
A third of all voters want Metsola as PN leader
Almost one out of every three voters now say that Metsola is their preferred choice as PN leader. In total, her popularity is three times higher than that of second-placed Adrian Delia.
While Metsola was listed as voters’ preferred choice in all three Times of Malta surveys carried out this year, in previous surveys she was previously overshadowed by the number of people who said they did not know who their preference was. This is no longer the case.
What’s more, Metsola is now the top choice amongst almost all voting groups, including people who voted for PL in last year’s election. This is a group that had previously always opted for Adrian Delia as their top choice.
The only group amongst which Metsola is not the top choice is that of people who would vote for PL if an election were to be held today. Delia remains the preferred choice here, securing 19% of preferences compared to Metsola’s 10.3%.
Metsola is also the most popular candidate amongst people of all age groups, except for people over the age of 65. The opposite is true of Grech, who is the least popular of the three candidates amongst all people aged under 65.
These findings suggest that the criticism of Metsola’s stance in the war between Israel and Hamas has not dented her popularity amongst Malta’s voters.
Metsola more popular among men than women
Curiously, Metsola is comfortably more popular among men than she is among women. While almost 37% of men say that she should be PN leader, this dips to just under 29% of women.
This is true of both PN and PL voters. Almost 60% of men who would vote PN today would like to see Metsola at the helm, but only 48% of women who plan to vote for PN say the same.
Likewise, Metsola is remarkably unpopular among women who plan to vote for PL, trailing both Delia and Grech with under 6% of preferences. Male PL voters, on the other hand, list her as their second choice at almost 16%, behind Delia’s 26%.
Under 2% of non-voters think Grech should lead PN
Grech’s popularity remains low among people who did not vote in last year’s election as well as those who are unlikely to vote if one were to be held tomorrow.
Only 1.7% of people who did not vote last year say Grech should lead PN, far behind Metsola’s 39% and even Delia at just over 5%. Meanwhile, even fewer people who are unlikely to vote at all next election list Grech as their top choice.
Metsola’s popularity also suffers a dip among this latter group, but she remains the overwhelming choice at almost 27% of preferences.