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By Makhulu

This election has turned into a battle of the pollsters with the latest Blue Dot poll finding that Prime Minister Andrew Holness enjoys a 17 per cent lead over Opposition Leader Mark Golding.

Among registered voters, Blue Dot says the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) holds a 13 per cent lead, which is growing by the day.

When it comes to the JLP, Blue Dot says it is clearly in the lead and is extending that position and by its calculation, looks set to bag at the very least 42 seats, thus leaving the People’s National Party (PNP) in its trail.

Ahead of what many are calling a consequential mid-week general election, a just-released RJR/Gleaner-commissioned Don Anderson poll published on August 31 sees the PNP pulling a three-point lead over the JLP.

The Don Anderson poll is more circumspect, declaring a close race with the PNP holding a three per cent majority. 

The pollster who is closer to the actual result will gain in credibility, and the one who is considerably off will have a tough hill to climb in the future.

For years, the Don Anderson poll has been the gold standard; now it has competition from the lively upstart Blue Dot.

What we now see is a notable variance between the two pollsters and there are those who say that the respective findings are politically motivated.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness poured cold water on the Don Anderson poll, saying it has never been right. Some of Holiness’ supporters have questioned Don Anderson’s credibility and say he is way off and that there is no credence in his methods. 

The Blue Dot poll finds Andrew Holness enjoying high favourability among women and making significant strides with men who give his masculine bearing the nod.

Irving Nestcot, a Trelawny lawyer who supports the JLP, speaking with Our Today, says: “The JLP will win this general election comfortably. The debates will have no impact and count for nothing. Jamaicans are deciding this on performance. Our people back winners, and Andrew Holness is a proven winner.

“You know why so many women support Holness? Because he is far better looking than Mark Golding and comes off more rugged, yet he is suave and well put together. Women like to feel safe with a man, and they feel safe with Andrew Holness.

“The Blue Dot poll shows that the undecideds have dropped to just 20 per cent, where it is usually about 43 per cent. That means people have made up their minds and are going to vote for who they trust more. Crime is down, unemployment is down, more people are driving cars and buying houses, the dollar is stable, the economy is stable. The JLP deserve to continue running the country. Blue Dot has called it right. We chose performance over promises.”

In an earlier Don Anderson poll, 34.7 per cent of people polled said they would vote for the PNP with 33.9 per cent saying they would vote for the JLP.

The telling question with the Don Anderson poll is does the Andrew Holness led administration deserve to be elected to serve another five years in office. Here 40.8 per cent said no with 40.9 per cent said yes.

To this, Andrew Holness said: “The Don Anderson polls for what they are worth have not been very accurate, and I don’t rely on them, and I would advise people not to rely on them.”

Ouch! 

So how did Don Anderson respond to that stinging retort?

Very cool, and remaining unruffled, he replied,  “ The proof is in the pudding. If you look at all the polls we have done from 1989, the track record is intact. We have had a successful run of political polls; the record speaks for itself. In 2020, we had the JLP 16 percentage points ahead. The end result-49 seats for the JLP, 14 seats for the PNP. I don’t think the prime minister had any challenge with that.”