Malcolm Turnbull remains voter favourite to lead Liberals, poll shows
MALCOLM Turnbull has been buoyed by today’s Newspoll, but Peter Dutton is increasingly being described as the Liberals’ next leader. Here’s why.
National
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MALCOLM Turnbull’s popularity as preferred leader of the Liberal Party is holding strong, with a new poll showing no other Liberal MP currently comes close.
More than half of respondents in a poll of News Corp readers today wanted Prime Minister Turnbull to remain in the top job.
But if a leadership spill were to happen this year, readers would pick former Prime Minister Tony Abbott ahead of any other potential candidate to replace him.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton — touted as the next Liberal leader with the backing of the party’s right wing — had minimal support among more than 500 respondents to the poll.
About 10 per cent picked Mr Dutton as the man to lead the Liberals, while 22 per cent wanted to see Mr Abbott back as leader.
Speculation around the Immigration Minister’s chances to be leader has risen this year along with his support among the party’s conservatives.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop also had relatively low support to become leader, with just over 11 per cent of the vote.
Only about 2 per cent of respondents said they wanted to see Treasurer Scott Morrison as the next Liberal leader.
It’s a dramatic shift for the Treasurer, who was spoken of as a potential replacement for Tony Abbott ahead of the leadership spill in 2015.
The reader poll comes after today’s Newspoll results showed a massive resurgence in support for the Turnbull Government.
Mr Turnbull’s announcement of a $2 billion expansion of the Snowy Mountain Hydro scheme was praised today for the rebound, after a Newspoll three weeks ago showed record low support.
Australian National University political researcher Jill Sheppard said the latest News Poll results should take some short-term heat off the Prime Minister but more polls would be needed to ensure it was not a statistical glitch.
“Speculation about Turnbull’s leadership had quietened in the few weeks before this poll was conducted,” Dr Sheppard told News Corp.
“That has likely benefited Turnbull’s standing, and it turn should have the effect of holding further speculation at bay, and helping the government in future polls,” she said.
“To the extent that there is any ‘momentum’ in opinion polls, Turnbull might well benefit over the short term.”
She also said Opposition leader Bill Shorten had had a “quiet week” and the latest results should not be attributed to any social media strategy coming out of the Prime Minister’s office.
“Who knows what will happen in the next fortnight,” she said.
PETER DUTTON
Sportsbet has Peter Dutton as the frontrunner for the next Liberal leader with odds of 1.87 to one.
He has been widely picked as the favourite for the next Liberal leader by political commentators including Andrew Bolt, Samantha Maiden and Ben Fordham over the past few weeks due to his strong support among the right wing of the party.
It’s a relatively new development. Mr Dutton was not suggested as a replacement for Mr Abbott in 2015.
But today’s poll shows he does not have widespread public support currently.
Mr Dutton emphatically denied reports earlier this month he was looking to become the next leader.
TONY ABBOTT
The former Prime Minister’s support within the Liberal Party appears to have waned in recent weeks. Earlier this month, it was reported a group of conservative Liberal MPs had been involved in talks after the election on how to parachute Mr Abbott back onto the frontbench.
But some among their number had spoken out about the discussions after Finance Minister Mathias Cormann publicly condemned Mr Abbott’s ongoing commentary on government policy.
The poll today shows voters haven’t ruled him out.
About 22 per cent of respondents said Mr Abbott should lead the Liberals.
Sportsbet also the odds of Mr Abbott becoming Liberal leader again at five to one.
JULIE BISHOP
Ms Bishop was considered a contender for the leadership in 2015, ahead of the challenge against Mr Abbott.
She has been deputy Liberal leader for a decade.
But support for her to become leader was about equal to Mr Dutton at just over 11 per cent of the vote.
SCOTT MORRISON
Support for Scott Morrison to become Liberal leader appears to have waned in his time as Treasurer.
Mr Morrison was named alongside Mr Tunbull and Ms Bishop as candidates to potentially replace Mr Abbott as leader in 2015.
Just 2 per cent of respondents in today’s poll picked Mr Morrison for the next Liberal leader.
It comes after reports last week Mr Morrison was being sidelined as the Turnbull Government’s lead economic spokesman ahead of the budget.
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