Portia Simpson Miller celebrating with the crowd at the Team Portia camp at Mona Preparatory on February 25, 2006. -Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

Jamaicans in the United Kingdom have thrown their support behind Portia Simpson Miller as their favoured candidate in the coming general election.

This is according to the results of the first major poll among Jamaicans living in Britain and conducted in March by pollster Bill Johnson on behalf of The Gleaner.

Founder and director of the Jamaican group in the U.K., Facilitators for A Better Jamaica, Sylbourne Sydial, said of Mrs. Simpson Miller's popularity: "She seems to have struck a positive cord with them. People are oppressed because of racism and when you see a black person in the Caribbean rise to power, especially a woman, that is positive for the Jamaican community here."