Alfred Sant and Frank Psaila make significant gains in run-up to MEP elections

MEPs Miriam Dalli, Alfred Sant and Roberta Metsola continue to top the election rankings in the second MaltaToday survey mapping out voter choices

Former prime minister Alfred Sant has surged in the polls and is now running neck and neck with fellow Labour MEP Miriam Dalli.

Sant and Dalli each enjoyed the support of 8.6% of the electorate in the second MaltaToday survey asking people to indicate their first-choice candidate in the upcoming European Parliament election.

Sant’s rise saw him overtake PN MEP Roberta Metsola, who placed third in the overall rankings with 5.1%. PN candidate Frank Psaila placed fourth with 4.4%.

The survey was held between 28 March and 4 April.

Sant climbed three-and-a-half points since the March survey as his election campaign started becoming more visible. Dalli saw her share of first preference votes increase by half-a-percentage point.

Metsola’s vote share decreased. The incumbent shaved off 0.8 points on her March result. But Psaila, a lawyer and presenter on NET TV, saw his share of the vote increase by 1.6 points as the newcomer strengthened his claim on the PN’s second seat.

Miriam Dalli enjoys an evenly spread voter base across genders and age, something that is less apparent in the support for Alfred Sant.

Roberta Metsola lost some steam but remains the PN’s strongest candidate. And in what could turn out to be a battle royale for the PN’s second MEP seat, Frank Psaila has forged ahead. They both enjoy stronger support among men and falter among the elderly in voter profiles that are broadly similar.