Job concerns and the high cost of living will determine how people vote in the election, according to a survey commissioned by The Sunday Times.
Respondents who identified work as a pressing issue were more likely to vote Labour
The two issues were the most pressing matters listed by respondents in the survey carried out by market research firm Misco.
They are followed by concerns about energy bills and fuel prices, which are intimately linked to the cost of living.
The results may not come as a surprise because the three issues have dominated the political agenda of the two major parties for the past year.
The Government has repeatedly said it helped foster the right economic conditions to create 20,000 jobs, a claim disputed by the Labour Party, while the Opposition has made electricity bills a major electoral plank in the face of criticism that it is scant on detail.
Respondents who identified work as a pressing issue were more likely to vote Labour (31 per cent) as opposed to PN (20 per cent) in the next election. The high cost of living was also a major concern for Labourites (59 per cent) as opposed to PN voters (11 per cent).
Respondents who said lowering energy bills was a pressing issue will vote Labour (84 per cent) or still have to decide whom to vote for (14 per cent).
Education was chosen by five per cent of respondents and made it to the top five as a pressing issue that will dictate how people vote in the election.
This could work in favour of the Nationalist Party, which can extol its achievements in education with the creation of a successful post secondary arts and science college, the introduction of scholarships and the higher number of young people continuing their studies.
The survey showed that respondents who were concerned about education were more likely to be Nationalist (38 per cent) or undecided (36 per cent) as opposed to Labourites (nine per cent).
But a worrying factor for the PN is the yearning for a change in government expressed by five per cent of respondents that also makes it a top-five issue.
Respondents in this category were almost exclusively inclined to vote Labour in the election (91 per cent).
The more recent billboard campaign issues dished out by the parties such as the minimum wage controversy, the bendy buses, political instability and the Labour Party’s past barely featured as pressing issues. The environment, illegal immigration, hunting and gay rights also fell below the radar.
The survey’s general findings, published yesterday in The Sunday Times, showed Labour ahead of the PN by 12 points and benefiting from a swing of 11 per cent.
The gap has widened by two points since July when a similar survey was held.
The Misco survey polled 500 respondents and was done by telephone between October 6 and 10.