The governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has opened a more than 40 percentage-point lead over the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) as the party that respondents in the latest Bill Johnson poll believe would do a better job of governing the country at this time.

Commissioned by the Jamaica Observer, the poll was conducted July 9-12, 2020 among 1,200 voting-age Jamaicans across the island. It has a sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent.

The results come as the Government tries to deflect flak for a number of missteps that have resulted in the sacking of two Cabinet ministers and the reassignment of two others, while winning praise for its management of the COVID-19 outbreak in the island.

Johnson said when his researchers asked people to say which party they believe would do a better job of governing Jamaica at this time, 60 per cent of respondents said the JLP, 27 per cent said the PNP, 22 per cent were undecided, and one per cent refused to answer.

The pollster pointed out that when the same question was asked in a previous poll conducted March 12-15 this year, but which was not published due to the emergence of COVID-19, 51 per cent of those surveyed said the JLP, 18 per cent said the PNP, 28 per cent were unable to decide, while three per cent refused to answer.

“The JLP increased its margin over the PNP from 33 points in March to 43 points in July as the PNP appears to have been treading water,” Johnson stated in his analysis of the data.

Johnson said the poll also uncovered that almost one-third of those who voted for the PNP in 2016 General Election think the JLP would do a better job of governing the country than the PNP.