A poll company has hit out at Premier Ewart Brown for misrepresenting a survey which he argued showed most of the public still backed him.

It followed a Research.bm poll carried out in June for The Royal Gazette.

The Premier had claimed at a public meeting in Hamilton parish on Wednesday that 28 percent of people had an unfavourable opinion of him, when in fact it was 38 percent.

He further stated that if those with no opinion either way were split 50/50 then he had the backing of the majority of the people.

But by Dr. Brown's own logic the true figures are that 58 percent of voters would disapprove of him compared to 42 percent who would approve of his performance.

During the poll 402 registered voters polled were asked to rate the Premier's performance on a scale of one to seven with seven being 'strongly approve' and one being 'strongly disapprove'.

It showed 22 percent of respondents approved of Dr. Brown's performance (either rating him a six or a seven) not the 32 percent figure quoted by Dr. Brown.

And the poll showed 38 percent of respondents did not approve of Dr. Brown's performance (either rating him a one or a two).

Dr. Brown's figures also don't add up when applied to another question asked about his favourability ratings.

Those with a favourable opinion of him added up to 30 percent not the 32 percent mentioned by Dr. Brown while there were 42 percent who gave Dr. Brown an unfavourable rating with just 27 percent in the middle.

A Research.bm spokesperson said: "Despite misinterpretations to the contrary, Dr. Brown's favourability is no higher than 30 percent. The Premier's favourability was tested using a five-point scale.

"Such a scale is particularly clear in that the top two options indicate a favourable rating, a rating of three indicates 'neutral', and the bottom two ratings indicate an unfavourable rating.

"The public approval rating for Dr. Brown was therefore clearly 30 percent favourable, 42 percent unfavourable, with 27 percent neutral."

United Bermuda Party chairman Michael Fahy said: "This spin on the polls is a speciality of this Government – much like a spin on recent tourism figures – which aim to put the Premier in the best light."

The recent poll saw only 36 percent voice approval for UBP leader Kim Swan.

But Mr. Fahy said: "Given that the United Bermuda Party leader has only been at the job for less than six months after an election defeat the poll numbers in respect of Mr Swan are not surprising, particularly the general apathy that exists towards political parties after an election.

"It is noteworthy that Mr Swan's results are higher than the sitting Premier who has been on the job for a lot longer."

Mr. Fahy said the poll putting the PLP on 37 percent compared to 33 percent backing the UBP indicated that aggressive changes must take place for the United Bermuda Party to find electoral success.

"This work internally is ongoing."