A majority of voters disapprove of the way Premier Paula Cox is running the country, according to a new poll.Fifty-one percent of people responding to the Mindmaps survey, carried out between June 26 and July 3, gave a negative rating of her performance as Premier. That compares to 24 percent when the last poll was conducted in April: a rise of 27 percentage points in three months.The latest survey, commissioned by The Royal Gazette, shows that 16 percent of people approve of her performance as leader of the country.In January, soon after she became Progressive Labour Party leader, 40 percent of people liked her performance; by April, that figure was down to 28 percent.Finance Minister Ms Cox has more support from blacks than whites. Twenty-nine percent of blacks approve of the job she's doing, according to the Mindmaps study, compared to only one percent of whites.Three-quarters of white voters disapprove of her performance, compared to a third of blacks.The Premier's performance gets approval from more women than men, with 21 percent of female respondents liking her performance but just 11 percent of males. And those in the 45 to 54 age bracket are most likely to give approval, with 21 percent doing so in the poll, compared to 14 percent of the 18 to 34 age group.The poll also asked participants to rate their view of the Premier on a scale of one to five, where five is very favourable and one is very unfavourable.A quarter of those quizzed responded positively: nine percent holding a very favourable view and 16 percent a favourable view.But almost 40 percent responded negatively, with ten percent holding a very unfavourable view and 28 percent an unfavourable view. Thirty percent gave a neutral rating and six percent said they didn't know.The poll shows a decline in favourability for Ms Cox since the last poll in April.Back then, 21 percent of voters held a negative view of the Premier and 42 percent had a positive view.The latest results show black voters having a more positive opinion of the Premier than whites. Forty percent of blacks responded favourably when asked to rate their view of her, compared to just six percent of whites.Almost 60 percent of whites said they held an unfavourable view of the country's leader, compared to 24 percent of blacks.Thirty percent of women polled rated their view of the Premier as positive, compared to 19 percent of men.When respondents are grouped by age, Ms Cox finds most support in the 55 to 64 group, with 28 percent giving a favourable view. Again, she gets the worst rating from the 18 to 34 group, with only 23 percent giving favourable answers.Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess's favourability rating has also decreased since the last poll.Eighteen percent of respondents held a positive view of the Public Works Minister in the latest survey, compared to 22 percent in April.Thirty-seven percent now have an unfavourable view of Mr Burgess, compared to 30 percent three months ago.None of the white people polled said they had a very favourable view of the Minister and eight percent had a favourable view.More than a quarter of blacks held a positive view; slightly more than the 24 percent who held a negative view.Among white participants, 56 percent held a negative view of former union leader Mr Burgess.Opposition Leader John Barritt fared better in the poll. Thirty-six percent of participants held favourable views of him, with 19 percent responding negatively.The interim One Bermuda Alliance leader gets most support from whites, with 56 percent holding positive views of him, compared to 22 percent of blacks. Twenty-nine percent of blacks hold unfavourable views of him.He gets most support from seniors, with almost 70 percent of voters in the 65-plus age group holding favourable views of him.Fifteen percent of voters hold favourable views of OBA Deputy Leader Craig Cannonier, who is likely to be a contender for the leadership of the party. Sixteen percent hold unfavourable views.He too has more support from whites than blacks: 21 percent hold favourable views of him, compared to nine percent of blacks.Forty percent of black voters are neutral about him and more than a quarter hold unfavourable views.Eighteen percent of respondents held a positive view of former Opposition Leader Kim Swan, who still represents the dismantled United Bermuda Party in the House of Assembly, with 34 percent responding negatively.OBA chairman Michael Fahy said last night: “The poll results tell us the public is losing confidence in the leadership of the PLP Government. It's a reflection of too many people feeling the effects of recession made worse by the Government's poor fiscal management and unsound decisions.”He added: “As for the One Bermuda Alliance, we are encouraged by the results, but recognise the failings of one do not necessarily mean success for another.“It is up to us in the days and months ahead to convince the people of Bermuda that we can get our Island back up and working again. That's our mission and we wouldn't want it any other way.“We want to bring to Bermuda a government that puts Bermuda first; a principle that's been missing for too long. We want Bermuda to do better than it has been doing and that means growing the economy to provide jobs, larger pay cheques and a new sense of security and promise for the future.”PLP spokesman Curtis Williams said: “The Progressive Labour Party recognises that there are significant challenges facing our community.“We remain focused on facing these challenges head-on and are confident that the Bermuda community will see the benefit of our leadership.”The Premier's advisor Scott Simmons and Mr Swan were invited to comment but did not do so by press time.The telephone poll of 400 registered voters has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.Useful websites: www.mindmaps.bm, www.plp.bm, www.oba.bm.