Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, Bruce Golding, exits the Linstead Market in St. Catherine yesterday. Mr. Golding toured the market before addressing a large crowd in the town. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

HE MAY be short on charisma, and a poor kisser, but Bruce Golding has successfully wiggled his way into the hearts of a few more Jamaicans ahead of the Prime Minister.

The findings come from the most recent Gleaner-commissioned Bill Johnson poll, conducted on June 18 and 19 among1,008 persons in 84 communities islandwide. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

The pollster and his team of researchers found that Golding, leader of the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) which has been out of power since 1989, has chalked up his best favourability rating (35 per cent) since March last year.

The increase in Golding's popularity represents a three per cent upward movement from the May polls that showed his favourability rating at 32 per cent.

Meanwhile, Portia Simpson Miller, whose popularity and populism led political analysts and commentators to coin the term 'the Portia factor', has lost some of the grip on her embrace of the electorate.

The Prime Minister's favourability rating now stands at 54 per cent, four percentage points fewer than in the May survey.

The rating for the Prime Minister also represents a 24 per cent decline in her popularity since March last year when she took over the reins of the People's National Party.

Also, 30 per cent of the persons surveyed had an unfavourable opinion of the Prime Minister, up from 26 per cent in the May poll.

It is the second time that Simpson Miller's unfavourability rating has climbed to 30 per cent since she took over the job of PNP president and Prime Minister; she scored that ratings in the January poll.

Golding's unfavourability rating, meanwhile, has marginally trended down, moving from 44 per cent in May to 42 per cent in June poll.

However, while Simpson Miller's rating may have dipped, more Jamaicans still believe that she would do a better job as Prime Minister than Golding.

Forty-five per cent of the sample said Simpson Miller would do a better job as Prime Minister, while 31 per cent felt that Golding would produce a better performance.

The approval backing for Golding is the second highest since October last year when 32 per cent of Jamaicans surveyed said he would do a better job of Prime Minister.

Twenty-eight per cent of the sample in May said he would do a better job as Prime Minister.

Meanwhile, most persons surveyed (53 per cent) approved of the job Simpson Miller has been doing as Prime Minister but the 53 per cent which give her that nod represent a one percentage-point decrease from the May survey.

Similarly, more persons - 31 per cent of the sample in June compared to 28 per cent in May - disapprove of the job that Simpson Miller is doing as Prime Minister.

Those who said they were sat on the fence in May, 18 per cent, have dipped to 16 per cent, an indication that more persons have an opinion about the country's political situation as the general election draws nigh.