Newspoll shows Labor still favourite to win election despite lack of love for Shorten
The latest Newspoll shows the election is set to be close with Labor holding a slender lead as Bill Shorten’s popularity wanes
Federal Election
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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has maintained his slender lead in the race to The Lodge in the latest Newspoll, despite an alarming dip in his personal approval rating.
The Newspoll published in The Australian shows Labor still has its nose in front of the Coalition with 51 per cent of the two party preferred vote compared to 49 per cent.
The Coalition continues to hold the lead in the primary vote stakes 38-36 per cent, with Labor’s primary vote now at its lowest level since Scott Morrison took over the Prime Ministership from Malcolm Turnbull.
There was good news for the Coalition in the preferred Prime Minister ratings, with Mr Morrison increasing his lead over Mr Shorten by three points to 11 per cent (46-35).
The conservative One Nation and Clive Palmer’s UAP have a combined 9 per cent support, as do the Greens. Other minor parties and independents gained a point to eight per cent, meaning more than a quarter of voters will reject the major parties.
But the biggest concern for Labor is the electorate’s ongoing failure to warm to Mr Shorten.
The Labor leader’s personal approval rating plummeted four points in this survey to just 35 per cent, while his disapproval rating climbed two points to 53 per cent.
By comparison, Mr Morrison’s approval rating was down by a point to 44 per cent - balanced by a one point dip in his disapproval rating to 45 per cent.
The Australian’s veteran political analyst Dennis Shanahan said the Newspoll result showed Labor was still favourite to win the election, despite a slight surge by the Morrison Government.
“The Newspoll shows ... momentum, no matter how sluggish, is remaining with the Coalition government (and) Shorten’s personal standing is worsening,” Shanahan wrote in The Australian.
Shanahan said at this stage neither Labor nor the Coalition has enough primary vote support to win the election in their own right, and will rely on preferences or support from either One Nation and UAP or the Greens.
The poll was conducted between May 2 and May 5 on a large sample size of 2003 voters nationally from city and regional areas.
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