BRUCE GOLDING'S return to the opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) could boost the party's chances of taking home the October 16 general election, according to the findings of the latest Gleaner-commissioned poll.

Thirty per cent of respondents said it "would help a lot" but the added 16.1 per cent who say it "would not help the JLP much", takes the number of Jamaicans who see the move as having a positive impact to 46.1 per cent.

Comparatively, a significant 42.8 per cent say his return would have no effect on the party's showing at the polls; 2.5 per cent said it would be a plus for the JLP's main rival, the People's National Party; while 8.6 per cent were not sure what impact it would have.

Conducted between September 23 and 27, the poll was done during the same week that Golding's return was officially announced and at the height of public discussions on the consequences that would flow from his decision and his defence of his action.

The poll asked: 'What difference do you think it would make if Bruce Golding returned to the JLP now?'

It was conducted among a sample of 2,232 persons islandwide and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 per cent. The question was pitched at those who say they intend to vote in the upcoming election.

Mr. Golding and the JLP brokered a seven-point agreement last week that paved the way for his re-entry into the party. The JLP agreed to give Mr. Golding a platform on constitutional and other issues of governance that he had been pushing under the National Democratic Movement (NDM) banner.

Opposition Leader and head of the JLP, Edward Seaga, has said the party expects to win more votes as a result of Mr. Golding's re-acceptance, a position that seems to have support within in his party. Don Anderson found that 52.5 per cent of JLP supporters thought it would help a lot while 17.2 per cent said it would help, but not much.

Another 23.8 per cent said it would have no effect, while 1.3 per cent said it would benefit the PNP.

Within the group that supports the PNP, 58 per cent were of the view that the JLP would see no benefit from Mr. Golding's move; but a significant 30 per cent thought it would boost the JLP's chances, while four per cent thought it would help their own party.

Mr. Golding left the JLP in 1995 to form the NDM. But he gave up the presidency of the party in 2001 after yet another dismal showing at the polls in March of that year during the North East St. Ann by-election.