Malcolm Turnbull remains preferred Prime Minister by 51% of Australians, according to a new SMS Morgan Poll.
While the outcome of the election remains on a knife edge, a new SMS Morgan Poll shows that 51% of Australians believe Malcolm Turnbull is a ‘Better Prime Minister’, ahead of Bill Shorten with 47% of the vote.
“Today’s special snap SMS Morgan Poll shows 51% of Australians would prefer Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister, narrowly ahead of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten,” said Gary Morgan.
The results mark a small decrease for Turnbull (down 6% since May), but a big increase for Shorten (up 23%).
The snap SMS Morgan Poll was conducted on 5 July with an Australia-wide cross section of 3,587 voters.
Men seemed to prefer Turnbull as preferred Prime Minister, with 52% selecting him, and 45% selecting Shorten.
Women, on the other hand, preferred Shorten by the narrowest of margins, with 50% supporting Shorten as preferred Prime Minister, and only 49% backing Turnbull.
It seems unlikely that Tony Abbott will return to the top job.
Turnbull was selected by 71% of respondents as preferred LNP leader, with only 25% preferring Tony Abbott.
Even by LNP supporters, 60% supported Turnbull as the better LNP leader, and 38% supported Abbott.
“Turnbull also enjoys overwhelming support as the ‘Better Liberal Leader’ over former Prime Minister Tony Abbott – and is also clearly preferred by LNP supporters. It appears there is no going back to the former Prime Minister,” said Morgan.
In contrast, 49% prefer Anthony Albanese as the Better ALP Leader, compared with Bill Shorten on 48%. But among ALP supporters, Shorten, with 64% of the preference, is preferred to Albanese on 35%.
“Although Shorten is widely considered to have had a successful election campaign, electors are almost evenly split between Shadow Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese and Shorten,” said Morgan.
“The good news for Shorten is that ALP supporters clearly prefer Shorten to continue as ALP Leader,” he said.
Read more: