[WATCH] The trust figures that spell trouble for Adrian Delia and the PN

Adrian Delia had pinned his hopes of revival on a change in leader in the Labour Party but survey results suggest the strategy has backfired.

The Nationalist Party leader has always trailed miserably in trust ratings when compared to his previous rival, Joseph Muscat. The former Labour leader was considered unassailable.

Delia’s closest aides believed that when Muscat moved out of the picture, a modicum of competitiveness would return to the political race.

But MaltaToday’s trust barometer released today, the first since Robert Abela became prime minister, puts paid to the PN’s hopes of recovery on the back of Muscat’s exit.

Delia’s trust rating has now plummeted to its lowest in two years and the PN has lost the ground it gained over the past three months.

The numbers also suggest the Nationalist electorate is in disarray with Abela making significant inroads among those who voted PN in the last general election.

A look at the survey numbers shows that Delia could only muster the trust of 34% of those who voted PN in 2017. This contrasts with Abela’s showing among Labour voters, where the Prime Minister secures the support of 95.5%.

Delia’s poor showing among PN voters is nothing new – he has registered similar showings over the past two years.

But what should be a worrying factor for him and the PN is Abela’s ability to appeal to Nationalist voters.

Abela’s trust rating among those who voted PN in 2017 stands at 22.5%, which is an impressive result that not even Muscat managed to achieve.

This puts Abela 10 points shy of the PN leader among Nationalist voters, a situation that none of Delia’s aides were foreseeing.

The rest of PN voters were either uncertain who to trust (32.6%), or trusted none of the two main leaders (10.9%).

The change in PL leader and its impact on the party and the electorate will have to be gauged over a period of months but the first results do not bode well for the PN and its leader.