Damion Crawford’s star is rising in the People’s National Party.

The latest Nationwide/Bluedot Poll shows Jamaicans now rate him the best-performing Opposition spokesperson by a wide margin, well ahead of party leader, Mark Golding.

It comes amid talk of a leadership challenge on the horizon.

Chevon Campbell reports.

Two years ago, Damion Crawford and Mark Golding were neck and neck.

In September 2024, 15 percent of Jamaicans named Crawford, who shadows education, as the best-performing Opposition spokesperson. Fourteen percent named Golding.

Today, the gap has widened.

In the latest Nationwide/Bluedot Poll, 31 percent of the 1,568 registered voters surveyed picked Crawford, more than double his 2024 share.

Golding, the Opposition Leader, has slipped to six percent.

No other spokesperson reaches five percent, and a third of respondents could not name anyone.

The numbers come as talk grows of a challenge to Golding’s leadership.

Nationwide News reported in July, citing sources in the party, that Crawford, the Member of Parliament for North West St. Catherine, is the main expected challenger when the PNP’s presidential election comes due in September 2027.

Crawford has not publicly signalled a bid. But he has never hidden his ambition.

Golding for his part has brushed off talk of a challenge.

At the PNP’s annual conference in Westmoreland last month, he urged Comrades to put the movement ahead of personal goals.

The poll also asked who is performing worst.

Golding again tops that list, named by 11 percent, though that is down from 14 percent two years ago. Zuleika Jess follows at nine percent. Five percent name Crawford.

The pollsters say the thin support for anyone beyond Crawford suggests broader dissatisfaction with the party’s representatives.

The poll was conducted between September 5 and 28, 2026, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percent.