Federal election 2022: Labor MP Kristina Keneally’s primary vote is collapsing in Fowler
Labor MP Kristina Keneally’s primary vote is dwindling in Fowler according to new polling that reveals voters are turning to independent candidate Dai Le.
Labor MP Kristina Keneally’s primary vote is collapsing in her NSW seat of Fowler according to new polling that has revealed voters in her electorate are turning to independent candidate Dai Le.
According to research conducted by Laidlaw Campaigns and Counsel, Ms Keneally’s primary vote has collapsed by nearly 13 points to 42 per cent, The Daily Telegraph reports.
The poll suggests that the current two-party preferred state of play in Fowler gives Ms Keneally 45 per cent of the vote and Ms Le 38 per cent, making the seat too close to call.
Among voters who were familiar with both candidates, Ms Le had a net favourable rating of +18 per cent, with 28 per cent of participants feeling positively towards her versus 10 per cent with a negative view.
Ms Keneally, however, was found to have a negative favourability rating of -6 per cent - 30 per cent of participants feeling unfavourably towards her.
The news comes as opposition leader Anthony Albanese prepares to visit the seat on Wednesday.
At the 2019 election, retiring Labor MP Chris Hayes held the seat with a 55 per cent primary vote.
Ms Keneally was parachuted into the southwestern Sydney seat, drawing sharp criticism even from within her own party and accusations she was a blow-in given she lives on the northern beaches some 40km away.
Federal Labor MP Anne Aly described her own party as failing on multiculturalism. “Diversity and equality and multiculturalism can’t just be a trope that Labor pulls out and parades while wearing a sari and eating kung pao chicken to make ourselves look good,” she said. “This is a huge failure for Labor when it comes to diversity and inclusion.”
A source familiar with the polling said that it showed that it showed that a “strong local campaign reminding voters of why they don’t like Ms Keneally is having a direct impact on her primary vote.”
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