Nearly two-thirds of Nationalist Party members prefer Bernard Grech over Adrian Delia to lead the PN, a poll has indicated.  

Conducted by opinion pollsters MISCO among 400 randomly selected PN members, the survey outlines a clear preference for Grech over the incumbent.

Respondents were asked: "If you had to make a choice between Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech to be the next leader of the Nationalist Party, who would you choose?".

63% said they would choose Grech, while 17% stated that they would choose Delia. One in five - 20% - declined to answer.

The poll found that three out of every four respondents believed that the PN would lose the next general election with the incumbent, Delia, at the helm. 

A significantly lower 44% felt that this would be the case were Grech to replace him. 

Those favouring Grech told pollsters that they did so because he was clean, the better choice, more competent and that they felt a change of leadership was needed.

Those expressing a choice for Delia said that they believed he needed to complete his term as party leader and that he was hard working. 

The poll was conducted between Friday and Saturday and has a margin of error of +/- 6%.  

Grech, a lawyer and political outsider, has said that he intends to run to be PN leader. The post will be up for contention following a PN general council vote calling for a leadership election among the party's members.  

With MPs Therese Comodini Cachia and Claudio Grech and MEP Roberta Metsola having all said they will not be running, that sets Grech up for a head-to-head race against Delia, who has said he will be seeking to be reconfirmed as party leader.