Garwin Davis, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Dr. Christopher Tufton is poised to give the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) a critical pick-up in St. Elizabeth South West where he currently enjoys a comfortable lead over his People's National Party (PNP) rival, the Reverend Stanley Redwood, according to a recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll.

In surveying 480 residents on March 10, Johnson found that Dr. Tufton, a lecturer in management studies at the University of the West Indies, would have the support of 42 per cent of registered voters as opposed to Redwood's 30 per cent, if an election were called today.

Dr. Tufton also scored big on the question of whom the people would most want to see as their next Member of Parliament (MP), polling a whopping 52 per cent to Redwood's 25 per cent. The margin of error in each case was plus or minus five percent.

Favourable opinion

The sitting MP for St. Elizabeth SW is the PNP's Donald Buchanan, who is not seeking re-election.

It gets worse for Redwood - a regional dean with the International University of the Caribbean. On the question of likeability, 62 per cent say they have a favourable opinion of Tufton as opposed to 20 per cent who say they don't.

In contrast, only 21 per cent had a favourable opinion of Redwood as opposed to the 29 per cent who say they don't.

And in terms of visibility, a massive 76 per cent of respondents admitted to having met or seen Tufton in communities throughout the constituency over the last six months or so.

However, when the same question was posed as it relates to Redwood, only 34 per cent say they have seen or met him over the same period.

"These numbers are phenomenal. I mean this is a huge constituency and to be seen by the people 76 per cent of the time is simply unheard of," commented Johnson. "It is almost as if Tufton is everywhere and has been meeting with almost everybody. This only goes to show what can happen when you are out there interacting with the people."