The Premier?s job approval ratings slipped minusculely downwards over the last two months according to the latest poll from Research Innovations.

However despite his approval ratings being at a new all-time low, more Bermudians like Alex Scott ? as overall opinion of the Premier has jumped from 39.4 percent to 45.5 percent.

Though Mr. Scott was gaining popular ground, Grant Gibbons was hard on his heels, with favourable opinion of the Opposition Leader went from 37.3 percent to 43.5 percent. The Opposition Leader enjoyed increases in favourable opinion in every single category. He enjoyed the most popularity among the high-income bracket (52.9 percent favourable) and the least among blacks (28.5 percent).

The random telephone poll was conducted from March 17-21, with a sample size of 407 people and a margin of error of 4.9 percent. In January, the Premier?s approval rating stood at 34.4 percent. In March it was nudged to 33.1 percent, a minuscule difference of just over one percent.

However his disapproval rating also fell slightly, from 45.4 percent to 43.5 percent, while more people appeared unsure about the Premier?s job capability (23.5 percent unsure in March compared to 20.2 percent in January). Mr. Scott has managed to turn young people?s perceptions of his role as Premier around: in January nearly 35 percent disapproved of him while 27.9 percent approved. In March, however, just 23.4 percent disapproved while his approval rating stood at 41.5 percent.

He has lost ground with women, however, with his approval rating sliding from 33.9 percent to 28.6 percent, and his disapproval rating jumping from 40.6 percent to 44.9 percent. The reverse is happening with men: in January 50.3 percent of men disapproved of the Premier while just 35.8 percent approved.

By March the disapproval rating had dropped to 43.6 percent while the approval rating climbed to nearly 40 percent ? with the rest moving into the unsure category. Both those in the low-income bracket and the high-income bracket appeared to be increasingly unsure about the Premier. While his approval rating in the low-income bracket remained essentially the same at just over 30 percent, his disapproval rating dropped from 51.1 percent to 42.9 percent as uncertainty about his ability went from 18.5 percent to 25.9 percent.

His approval rating among the high-income bracket dropped from 27.3 percent in January to 17.6 percent in March, with the majority of those moving into the unsure category (increasing from 19.8 percent to 31.4 percent).

The middle-income bracket appeared to have changed their minds, however.

Though in January Mr. Scott?s approval rating in that category stood at 48.7 percent while his disapproval rating was at 32.7 percent, by March approval had fallen to 39 percent while disapproval leapt to 41.4 percent.

The Premier continued to meet with more approval from blacks than whites (45.8 percent black approval and 12.7 percent white approval).

As for public opinion, the Premier enjoyed the most popularity among men (58.2 percent favourable) and the least among whites (28.8 percent favourable, an increase from 21.2 percent in January). His popularity in the high-income bracket increased from 23.1 percent to 35.3 percent, while his unfavourable rating in that category plunged from 61.2 percent to 39.2 percent.

Black opinion of the Premier remained essentially stable at 54.9 percent favourable and 26.9 percent unfavourable.