PORTIA SIMPSON Miller, one of the People's National Party's (PNP) four vice-presidents, has emerged as the "people's choice" to take over leadership of the governing party, according to a recent survey.
According to a Gleaner Company-commissioned Don Anderson poll, 53.8 per cent of all persons interviewed opted for Mrs. Simpson Miller over her four declared rivals for the party's top post and prime minister of Jamaica.
They are Dr. Peter Phillips, Dr. Karl Blythe, Robert Pickersgill, party chairman, and Dr. Omar Davies, Region Three chairman .
"Her support is across the demographic groupings, but it is noticeable that females (57.2 per cent), young persons (61.7 per cent), and low-income persons (58.7 per cent) are her principal supporters," Anderson said in releasing the findings of the
survey conducted between February 3 and 11.
Mrs. Simpson Miller has gained 2.2 percentage points over the July 2004 poll.
As the favoured candidate's closest threat, Dr. Phillips saw 20.2 per cent of persons believing he should succeed party
president P.J. Patterson as leader.
He has lost 1.6 percentage points to be the only candidate who has suffered a reversal.
"There is no question that his tenure as national security minister, at a time when there has been an increase in the level of concern among the general public with regard to crime and violence, has impacted on the perception they have of him as leader material," Anderson said.
