Political heavyweights Ewart Brown and Paula Cox are riding high in the popularity stakes with voters, a new poll reveals.

In a clear sign they have the public?s confidence, Dr. Brown, the Progressive Labour Party?s Deputy Premier and Ms Cox, the Finance Minister, scored highly when voters were asked how effectively they were doing their jobs.

The pair are widely viewed as leadership front-runners, should Premier Alex Scott leave the top job. A convincing 60 percent of people questioned described Ms Cox?s handling of the economy as ?very effective?, 29 percent said she was ?somewhat effective? and just nine percent questioned her ability when it came to controlling Bermuda?s purse strings.

Dr. Brown, meanwhile, scored 54 percent in the ?very effective? category while 35 percent of voters said he was ?somewhat effective?. Again, only nine percent of people polled thought the Tourism Minister was either ?somewhat ineffective? or ?very ineffective?. The results come from the latest Research Innovations poll, commissioned by , conducted between September 14 and 17.

The Royal Gazette reported yesterday how the poll figures showed how Mr. Scott?s approval ratings had dipped for the third time in nearly six months. His popularity rating was also down compared to recent months.

Elsewhere, performances of some other key Cabinet members appear to have been called into question by the new survey.

Voters were asked how they thought five high-profile Ministers shaped up. And only 23 percent of those polled said they thought Health Minister Patrice Minors was ?very effective?.

Housing Minister Sen. David Burch scored 34 percent in the same category, while Community Affairs and Sports Minister Dale Butler clocked just 35 percent.

A detailed breakdown of the results reveals that nearly ten percent of voters thought Mrs. Minors was ?very ineffective?, compared to 20 percent who thought she was ?somewhat ineffective? and 47 percent who dubbed her ?somewhat effective?.

Nearly 20 percent of people aged 55-plus thought the Health Minister was ?very effective?, 41 percent rated her ?somewhat effective?, 28 percent ?somewhat ineffective? and eleven percent ?very ineffective?.

Figures for Sen. Burch show that voters appear split over their opinion on the outspoken Housing Minister.

While 34 percent feel that his affordable housing policies are ?very effective?, 16 percent brand him ?very ineffective?.

The rest feel that he is either partly effective (30 percent) or partly ineffective (19 percent).

That split carries itself over to the 55-plus age group, with nearly 30 percent giving him top marks, while 20 percent put him bottom of the class. Voters on lower incomes gave Sen. Burch the thumbs up ? 41 percent of people with a household income of less than $50,000 said he was very effective.

Nearly eight percent of that group said he was very ineffective. In the $100,000-plus bracket, 34 percent were very impressed, though nearly 20 percent gave the opposite reaction.

The race breakdown shows nearly 50 percent of blacks think Sen. Burch is very effective, compared to ten percent of whites.

Nearly 50 percent of voters thought Mr. Butler was partly effective. More than 40 percent of 36-54 year olds gave him top marks; younger voters were less impressed with only 34 percent rating him ?very effective?.

More than a third of blacks put him in that bracket, compared to 30 percent of whites.

More than 50 percent of blacks, meanwhile, thought he was partly effective compared to 43 percent of whites.

The breakdown of Dr. Brown?s poll results suggest he was less popular with younger voters.

A total of 35 percent of 18 to 35 year olds said he was very effective, compared to 58 percent of 36 to 54 year olds and 57 percent of people aged 55-plus.

The Deputy Premier scored 50 percent-plus top effectiveness ratings across all three income brackets, as did Ms. Cox. She scored 63 percent in that category from the 55-plus group.

On race, two thirds of blacks and 50 percent of whites gave Ms. Cox top marks. Nearly two thirds of blacks gave Dr. Brown the same endorsement, although only 39 percent of whites agreed with that verdict.

The margin of error in the poll is 4.9 percent. A total of 401 people were polled.

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