Public opinion on Bermuda’s leading politicians has plunged in the first quarter of 2011.Premier Paula Cox, Deputy Premier Derrick Burgess, United Bermuda Party leader Kim Swan and Bermuda Democratic Alliance leader Craig Cannonier all took a hit in a poll by Mindmaps, released today.Ms Cox received the biggest drop, with her favourability rating falling 20 percentage points from 62 percent to 42 percent, her lowest score as either Premier or Deputy Premier.Mr Burgess fell from 29 percent to 22 percent, Mr Swan dropped from 30 percent to 21 percent and Mr Cannonier went from 20 percent to 13 percent.Bucking the trend was UBP deputy leader Trevor Moniz, who climbed from 25 percent to 28 percent, while BDA deputy leader Kathy Michelmore improved from five percent to ten percent.The poll was carried out between March 29 and April 8, while Government Ministers have been facing criticism for refusing to take a pay reduction themselves after Ms Cox announced numerous service cuts in her Budget.Simultaneously, the UBP and BDA have been locked in talks over a merger, with critics complaining the two parties have failed to present a strong Opposition despite dissatisfaction with the Progressive Labour Party.Although the number of people in favour of Ms Cox has dropped, the number against her remains relatively low, at 21 percent. A growing amount, 36 percent, are on the fence over the Premier.A breakdown of the results shows Ms Cox retains much of her backing from the older generation, with a rating of 51 percent among people aged over 65 compared with 40 percent among those aged under 34.Among blacks, 57 percent are in favour, with just 21 percent of whites in favour; however support among whites for Ms Cox is still considerably higher than for her predecessor Ewart Brown, who scored five percent with that group at the end of his tenure.Mr Burgess is also more popular among older people, with 35 percent of over-65s liking him, compared with 21 percent of people aged 18 to 34. Four percent of whites are in favour of Mr Burgess, compared with 34 percent of blacks.Mr Swan has support from 28 percent of whites and 15 percent of blacks. Mr Moniz has support from 42 percent of whites and 18 percent of blacks.The survey of 402 residents has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.Useful websites: www.plp.bm, www.ubp.bm, www.thealliance.bm