Steven Marshall lags in opinion polls as preferred Premier for SA election 2018

OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall is failing to convince voters of his leadership credentials as he lags in the preferred Premier stakes in four Advertiser-Galaxy polls in key seats.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill, SA Liberal Leader Steven Marshall and SA Best Leader Nick Xenophon. Picture: AAP / David Mariuz

• This morning’s Advertiser-Galaxy poll
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• Steven Marshall’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

OPPOSITION Leader Steven Marshall is failing to convince voters of his leadership credentials as he lags in the preferred Premier stakes across four Advertiser-Galaxy polls in key seats.

In a trend that is concerning some Liberals and their business backers, Mr Marshall is trailing Premier Jay Weatherill and SA Best leader Nick Xenophon as preferred premier even in two usually blue-ribbon Liberal seats, Heysen and Morialta.

In the western suburbs’ seat of Lee, where an Advertiser-Galaxy poll this month showed the Liberals leading Labor 39 per cent to 34 per cent on primary support, Mr Marshall trailed Mr Weatherill 31 per cent to 25 per cent as preferred premier.

The Liberals have put leadership at the centre of their election campaign, releasing ads declaring “Jay Weatherill’s constant Labor failures have gutted South Australia” and accusing Mr Xenophon of putting regional jobs at risk.

By contrast, the Liberals last week released a five-minute video, called Steven Marshall’s Story, branding him a “strong leader, with a strong plan to deliver real change in South Australia”.

But even among Liberal supporters, Mr Marshall’s backing as preferred premier is comparatively weaker than Mr Weatherill’s among Labor supporters.

In Heysen, 66 per cent of Liberal supporters preferred Mr Marshall as premier, while 21 per cent were undecided. By contrast, 92 per cent of Labor supporters preferred Mr Weatherill as premier and three per cent were undecided.

This trend extended across Lee and the eastern Adelaide and Hills seat of Morialta.

However, in the Labor stronghold of Giles, centred on Whyalla, only 60 per cent of Labor supporters preferred Mr Weatherill as Premier, with 21 per cent backing Mr Xenophon and 19 per cent undecided.

Despite this, Mr Weatherill headed the overall preferred Premier stakes with 29 per cent, ahead of Mr Xenophon on 27 per cent and Mr Marshall on 23 per cent and 21 per cent undecided.

The Advertiser has spoken with some influential business leaders, who asked not to be named, who expressed concern about Mr Marshall’s failure, thus far, to put the Liberals in a position to win the March 17 election.

However, other senior Liberals are firmly behind Mr Marshall, saying the Advertiser-Galaxy polls show Labor’s vote tanking and SA Best performing below expectations because of the campaign the Liberal leader has created.

“Anyone who says otherwise, might know business but they don’t know politics,” one source said.

“Anyone who underestimates Marshall wouldn’t know their arse from their elbow. They had the same view about (former Liberal premier) Dean Brown in 1993 and he won the biggest victory in the history of the state.”

Galaxy pollster and founder David Briggs said Mr Marshall’s poll ratings would be concerning Liberals.

“Typically, Nick Xenophon and Jay Weatherill both perform better among their own supporters. In comparison, Steven Marshall rates lower amongst his Liberal base,” Mr Briggs told The Advertiser.

“This suggests it will be a tough election for the Liberals and their leader.

“If there is a mood for change, this would generally be seen in the popularity of the new, future Premier and we’re not seeing that in this election, at this stage.”