A majority of Jamaicans believe that Andrew Holness is a better leader than Portia Simpson Miller to represent the country locally and overseas. This was one of the findings of the latest Observer/Don Anderson Polls conducted between December 5 and 11, 2011. Anderson and his Market Research Services team interviewed 1,000 registered voters in all parishes in the island, covering over 150 different locations. The margin of error was plus or minus 3%.

Asked which of the two leaders would be better able to represent the country overseas, 44.2 per cent of Jamaicans polled said the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader and Prime Minister Andrew Holness, compared with 38.9 per cent who said People's National Party (PNP) leader and former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

When asked which of the two leaders would be better able to represent the country locally, a smaller majority of 42.9 per cent said Holness against 41.3 per cent who chose Simpson Miller.

"Empirical data has shown that perception of the respective leaders has been an important issue in party support in previous elections, especially in the 90s and early to mid 2000s when PJ Patterson and Edward Seaga were the respective leaders of the PNP and the JLP," Anderson said in his notes to the polls.

He noted that the recent elevation to the higher office of prime minister of the "generally highly regarded Holness has boosted his favourability rating amongst Jamaicans to the point where he is now better perceived than PNP leader Simpson Miller..."