Residents Endorse Government Response to COVID-19

MEDIA RELEASE: July 2020

Satisfaction with the performance of the Government is the highest it has been in more than 20 years, reflective of residents’ endorsement of the Government’s response to COVID-19.

BERMUDA: For more than two decades of public opinion polling, satisfaction with the overall performance of the Government has never been higher. Currently, nearly nine in ten residents (87%) express being satisfied to some extent, a result that is deeply tied with the Government’s handling of the current pandemic. For context, the past highest level of satisfaction was in December 2013 at 71 percent. It is perhaps not surprising that support for the Government increased during such a time of crisis given their more prominent profile, regular public briefings, and heightened transparency. It is clear that in the eyes of residents, the Government properly handled the Island’s response to the pandemic, with virtually all are satisfied with the measures taken (96%). Compared with two months ago, satisfaction in this regard remains unchanged.  

Over the past two decades, there has also been a consistent disparity in satisfaction between white and black residents depending on the current party holding office. In more than 20 years of tracking, this gap has never been narrower, with white and black residents alike being highly satisfied with the Government’s overall performance.

The results are part of a TRA Bermuda Omnibus® survey conducted in June 2020 with a random sample of 400 adult residents of Bermuda (18 years of age or older). The results above are not commissioned by a third party, and were collected independently by TRA/Narrative Research. A sample size of 400 is a well-recognized market research industry standard and provides a representative sampling of Islanders. The survey was conducted by phone from June 3 – 15, 2020. A sample size of 400 surveys collected by telephone allows for a statistical margin of error to within ± 4.9 percentage points, 95 out of 100 times.

For more information, please contact:

Graham Redford, Managing Partner, Total Research Associates, 278-8882 or graham@narrativeresearch.bm

OR

Margaret Chapman, COO and Partner, Narrative Research, at (902) 493-3834 or mchapman@narrativeresearch.bm