HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – A new poll has shown growing support for the opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) which has narrowed the gap on the governing Progressive Labour Party (PLP).
The poll, carried out by the private company Research Innovations and reported in the Royal Gazette newspaper last week, showed 33.5 per cent of people backing the PLP with 31.8 per cent supporting the UBP. The last time the public was polled the gap between the parties was five per cent.
The PLP broke the UBP 30-year when it won the 1998 general elections. It then was returned to power three years ago.
A startling 20 per cent of people polled under the age of 35 said they would not vote in the next election, due by 2008. A total of 23.3 per cent of people in the same age bracket said they would vote for PLP while 26.7 per cent said they would vote for the UBP.
More than half, 54.1 per cent, of blacks said they would vote for the PLP while 17 per cent said they would cast their ballot for the UBP. Only 1.8 per cent of white people polled said they would vote for PLP while 63.4 per cent said they would vote for the UBP.
Bermuda’s 65,000 population is 60 per cent black and 40 per cent white. All 22 PLP MPs are black while the UBP’s 14 include six whites.
Deputy Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley said he was not surprised by the numbers.
“We feel, and the numbers clearly show that people are now taking a fierce look at the UBP as the next government,” he said. “There has been a lot of apathy lately as the public have seen the government fail in housing, mismanage the public purse and not be transparent.”
While the government’s popularity has fallen so has Premier Alex Scott’s. In March his popularity was the highest it has been in 2006 with 51.6 per cent of people expressing pleasure with the country’s leader. Now the rating is down to 46.7 per cent.
Opposition Leader Wayne Furbert has seen his popularity surge since he took over the party earlier this year from Grant Gibbons.
The first time the public was polled about Furbert in March, only 28.7 per cent of people approved of him as a leader.