Progressive Labour Party MP Ashfield DeVent has urged colleagues to take seriously the Premier's plummeting poll ratings which he said were only echoing the feelings of ordinary people.

The June survey by Research.bm showed only three in ten voters have a favourable impression of Premier Ewart Brown compared to seven out of ten backing deputy leader Paula Cox.

According to the poll the PLP stand on 37 percent of the vote while 33 percent back the UBP.

Asked for his reaction Ashfield DeVent said: "The figures speak for themselves in regard to the leadership of the PLP."

He said he knew many would dismiss the poll as an attempt by The Royal Gazette to go after the Premier but Mr. Devent added that the statistics backed up what he was hearing on the street.

He said: "The majority of people I speak to are not pleased with him, they are not feeling happy with him at the helm.

"Many just don't feel he's in touch with the common working man.

"There's a perception he's not there on the ground, he's not there with the people, there's a distance. People are questioning whether he is one of them or whether he is and always has been one of the privileged."

Mr. DeVent was quick to point out that the PLP had helped the working class.

But he added: "Party members and perhaps even he himself should take a step back and rethink his approach — not just putting it aside that it's all hearsay.

"I would be surprised if other people haven't heard the same things I have heard.

"People must be blunt and tell him."

Asked if it was time for a leadership change he said: "That's a tough one, that's up to the members and the people. If they feel it, they must act."

However Dr. Brown still appears to have the support of the PLP caucus with no ructions after the recent labour unrest which saw 5,000 people from every major trade union converge on Parliament to protest about Government's handling of labour relations.

Many PLP MPs declined to comment yesterday about Dr. Brown's low poll ratings when contacted by The Royal Gazette.

But PLP backbencher Glenn Blakeney said: "As it stands now the best leader for the party is leading the party. I look at every poll with a degree of suspicion."

However former Attorney General Phil Perinchief, who has publically called for the PLP to throw out Dr. Brown, said his waning numbers were no surprise and could begin to impinge on the PLP's numbers which were also pretty low.

But he said there were still some in the party who were still in denial about the situation.

He added: "These are sobering statistics for the hierarchy of the party and Government and should give pause for concern for people like Paula Cox and Dale Butler."

The phone poll of 402 registered voters has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.