‘100 per cent behind Premier’: Fentiman shrugs off latest poll

Shannon Fentiman has refused to be drawn on her unfulfilled bid to be premier after a poll revealed voters were nearly deadlocked between her and the eventual victor.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has refused to be drawn on her unfulfilled bid to be premier after a poll revealed voters were nearly deadlocked between her and the eventual victor Steven Miles.

A UComms poll of 1911 Queenslanders conducted exclusively for The Courier-Mail this week revealed 37.8 per cent believed Mr Miles was the best replacement for Annastacia Palaszczuk.

But the support was only marginally higher than that for Ms Fentiman, with 35 per cent believing she was the best choice.

The poll has a margin of error of 2.3 per cent.

The Health Minister brushed the latest poll aside, however, applauding Mr Miles for bursting out of the gates since being sworn in as state leader earlier this month.

Health Minister Shannon Fentiman brushes aside leadership ambitions. Picture: Richard Walker

“The new Premier has been working incredibly hard over the last couple of weeks,” Ms Fentiman said.

“He has hit the ground running — he has been on the ground up in Cairns working with families devastated by the cyclone, we’ve been responding to these natural disasters and weather events.

“The whole team is absolutely behind him with a fresh new cabinet, ready to take the fight up to the LNP in October next year (for the state election).”

Ms Fentiman, an ally of Mr Miles from the dominant Left faction, was the only MP to put their hand up to challenge the now-Premier for the leadership.

But the Health Minister withdrew her candidacy before the caucus vote after Mr Miles shored up support from the Right by anointing the faction’s leader, Treasurer Cameron Dick, as his proposed party deputy.

When pressed further about whether the poll had changed her reflections of her challenge for the leadership, she again insisted her ambitions had been shelved.

“I’m absolutely, 100 per cent behind our Premier,” Ms Fentiman said.

“He will do a fantastic job as a leader for Queensland — he has already shown how much empathy he has but, not just that, he’s prepared to hit the ground running, make tough decisions and support Queenslanders when they need it most.”