Malcolm Turnbull takes a hit in the latest Newspoll

HE HAS been calling Bill Shorten names, but it doesn’t seem to have worked for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Malcolm Turnbull has taken another hit in the polls.

MALCOLM Turnbull’s two weeks of sneering at “Blackout Bill” Shorten has not brightened his prospects in a major opinion poll.

Mr Turnbull has fallen further as preferred Prime Minister against the Opposition Leader, and his government has not gained ground against Labor.

But slightly fewer voters are dissatisfied with his performance as Prime Minister, although it’s still the majority view, according to a Newspoll in The Australian today.

Mr Turnbull spent the past two weeks blitzing FM radio interviews as well as his usual outlets, visiting Queensland and promoting Government on rising electricity bills.

And he maintained his attacks on Labor energy policy and the character of Mr Shorten.

The effort did little more than help him and his government hold their ground.

One reason could be the critically timed intervention of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott who confirmed he would cross the floor to vote against a Clean Energy Target as recommended by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel.

Mr Abbott in effect gatecrashed the energy debate and put his leader on the defensive when he wanted to seem advancing — all in the week leading up to the Newspoll survey.

The poll found the Government's two-party-preferred vote was 46 per cent to Labor’s 54 per cent, in effect the same as a fortnight ago and still troubling for the Coalition.

Some 42 per cent of voters saw him as preferred Prime Minister, down four per cent, while Bill Shorten’s rating went from 29 per cent to 31 per cent.

Dissatisfaction with Mr Turnbull’s performance fell from 54 per cent to 52 per cent, while Mr Shorten’s roughly stayed the same at 53 per cent.