Muscat scores highest ever trust rating

Opposition leader Joseph Muscat extended his lead over PN leader Lawrence Gonzi by two-points.

Asked who they trust most between Opposition leader Joseph Muscat and PN leader Lawrence Gonzi, 44% of respondents opted for the Labour leader.

This is the highest ever trust rating registered by the Labour leader since his election as party leader in 2008.

Compared to last month, Muscat has seen his trust rating increase by four points.

On his part, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has recovered two points since last month but still falls five points short of the trust level he enjoyed in January before he announced a leadership contest which turned out to be a one-man race. In last month's survey, held immediately after he announced the contest, Gonzi saw his trust rating plummeting by seven points. The current result indicates that despite his triumph among party councillors - 96% of which voted for his confirmation as party leader, Gonzi has failed to make any significant inroads in recovering the trust of the electorate.

The increase in trust in both political leaders comes in the wake of decline in those who trust neither of the two leaders.

Methodology

The survey was held between Monday 5 and Thursday 8 March. A total of 1,117 respondents were randomly chosen from telephone directories.  The survey was stopped when a 500 quota of completed questionnaires was reached. The results of the survey were weighed to reflect the age balance of the population as established in the 2010 demographic review issued by the National Office of Statistics. The survey has a margin of error of /-4.4%.