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that the Leader of the PNP may never appeal to all Jamaicans, but she is very popular and loved by the
poor and working class, especially mature males (who have the highest voter participation); and her
‘new’ style of leadership is respected by her usual UM critics. It is for this reason that she has a net
positive impact of 20. Some of the reasons respondents gave for liking Portia Simpson‐Miller are:
•
Strong woman like my mother (12)
•
From humble beginnings like me (11)
•
Changed to team player after 2007 loss (9)
•
Warm (7)
•
Genuine (6)
•
Street smart/bright (4)
•
Hard‐working and honest (2)
The leader of the opposition, on the other hand, has comparable positive impact – but ends with a
negative net impact. His appeal is greatest to the UM youth, but these are eclipsed by a mass of
criticisms, some of which are related to hisselection of issues to address, and style of leadership. In the
calculations no direct mention of his controversial house being construction was included. Yet it is
possible that this controversy affected other criticisms of the Leader. Forty‐nine persons made mention
of the
JLP Leader’s mansion
under construction. Of this number 37 listed this as a primary issue with the
JLP. Only 11 of the critics of the Leader’s house were from JLP backgrounds. Of this number 7 persons,
including 5 males, declared that they would “never vote for someone like that on principle… who
separate himself from the country by making it visible that he lives above us…He did it before with his
children while he was the Minister of Education and we forgave him – never again.” This calculated loss
of 2.4% seems very insignificant on its own. What has not been measured is the impact of this issue on
the overall image that Jamaicans has of the Leader – which could have helped indirectly to push his net
impact into negatives.
The vast majority (91) of the respondents who associated the Leader of the JLP with what they like least
about the Party made comments. These can be summarized as follows:
•
Seems quarrelsome (20)
•
Seems autocratic in the way he relates to his peers (17)
•
Frequently uses stories/analogies that can be misunderstood (14)
•
Needs a mature trusted advisor (13)
•
Young but seems out of touch with everyday life of the youth (8)
Some of the reasons respondents gave for liking Andrew Holness are:
•
He is young and needs a chance to run the country (27)
•
Bright and speaks well (13)
•
Can fix the country (5)
•
Hard working and honest (3)
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