NSW Premier Mike Baird is Australia’s favourite politician, so could a move to Canberra be on the cards?

FORGET Malcolm Turnbull, this surfing father of three is our most popular politician. And he could have The Lodge in his sights.

Mike Baird at Coogee Public School. Election Day. Picture: Bradley Hunter

NSW PREMIER Mike Baird is a busy man. Between marking milestones on big new infrastructure projects and calling for Australia to take in more refugees, the “nice guy” of NSW politics has found time to live tweet his observations on last week’s final of The Bachelor endearing him to an audience often turned off by politicians.

Now, with a new poll out showing he is the country’s favourite politician, some are wondering if a future move to Canberra is being planned.

Malcolm Turnbull with NSW Premier Mike Baird (left) at Parliament House in Canberra.

Mr Baird has ruled out a tilt at the Canberra top job and it seems almost indecent to be talking this early about who could replace Malcolm Turnbull in The Lodge. But you wouldn’t want to discount the idea after today’s Newspoll for The Australian showed Mr Baird’s satisfaction rating at 63 per cent while almost three times as many people prefer him as premier over Labor’s Luke Foley.

The avid surfer, who was an accidental premier after Barry O’Farrell sensationally resigned over a $3000 bottle of Grange, is even more popular than Prime Minister Turnbull.

HONEYMOON

“It’s a pretty extended honeymoon,” Macquarie University political expert Geoffrey Hawker told news.com.au. Mind you, he said, Mr Baird has had a helping hand from the other side of politics.

“He’s coming off a particularly bad period in NSW politics with the decline and fall of the Labor government in NSW.”

Mr Hawker nominated Mr Baird’s personal charm, social media savvy and backroom negotiating style as key to his success.

Mike Baird, who once considered a career in the clergy, is an avid surfer. Picture: Damian Shaw

“He’s Mr Nice Guy with a nice family. He looks like the proverbial breath of fresh air [and] his particular set of attributes seems to strike a rapport with the electorate.”

It’s a popularity which has seen Mr Baird seemingly shrug off controversial policies, such as the sale of NSW’s electricity assets, and even advocate for causes that have put him at odds with his colleagues in Canberra.

In June, before tragic images of drowning immigrants filled our TV screens, Mr Baird was doling out travel concessions to asylum seekers.

“I am of the view that Australia is the lucky country and we have a responsibility to help those who have nowhere else to turn,” he said at the time.

It’s a humanitarian world view shared by his father, former NSW Transport Minister Bruce Baird.

Mr Baird won thousands of fans when he tweeted during the final episode of The Bachelor last week while stuck at home with a case of “man-flu”.

But, as The Daily Telegraph revealed, the Premier’s online presence was anything but spontaneous.

Social media whiz Tony Story was paid almost $600 a day from November 2014 to February this year, and then became the government’s director of Digital Media after the March poll.

I can't take any more. Off to bed. Key learning: Cabinet decision making might be a lot simpler with a rose ceremony process. #TheBachelorAU

— Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) September 17, 2015

Cheeky text from Gladys telling me she loves the show but not to tell anyone. She's not on Twitter so this doesn't count. #TheBachelorAU

— Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) September 17, 2015

PROUD FATHER

Indeed, if Baird junior did head to Canberra he would be following in his father’s footsteps who made the move to federal politics in 1998 before retiring in 2007.

Baird senior has spoken glowingly of his son’s political success. “He’s more popular than I was and has gone further in his political career, and isn’t that what we all want for our kids?

“I’m glad he’s outshone me as a politician,” the Manly Daily reported Mr Baird’s father as saying when his son was installed as premier in 2014. “We’re all proud of him — we always have been.”

Premier Mike Baird with his father Bruce in the Premier’s office in Sydney. Picture Gregg Porteous

A spokesman for the Premier told news.com.au that Mr Baird had repeatedly ruled out a move to federal politics.

Mr Hawker isn’t so sure. “It doesn’t matter what they say, if you’re young enough and you’ve still got a hunger for it of course you’ll go for more power,” he said.

Mr Baird’s forays into social media are all part of an attempt to humanise the premier, he said, and have so far proved successful in connecting him with voters.

“It’s certainly possible to imagine he could be prime minister and if he gets through [being NSW Premier] unscathed he could move to bigger things.”

But Mr Baird’s ascension to Capital Hill may not be as easy as his rise up Macquarie Street.

“I vividly remember the first 10 months of Rudd where he was polling better than Baird and how rapidly it all fell apart,” Mr Hawker.

BAIRD NOT TESTED

Mr Hawker said Mr Baird had yet to be fully tested and nominated a lower than expected return on the sale of NSW’s poles and wires and a squeezed state budget as potential pitfalls that could scupper his federal chances.

Then there’s his socially conservative views in a number of areas, including his rejection of gay marriage, and competition from the likes of new Treasurer Scott Morrison, who is thought to be already eyeing off the top spot.

“Baird’s challenges are ahead of him,” Hawker said.