Newspoll: Scott Morrison loses his advantage over Anthony Albanese on trust and likeability

For the first time, Scott Morrison has lost his critical personal advantage over Anthony Albanese across a range of leadership attributes.

Scott Morrison has described himself as the underdog in next year’s election race. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

Scott Morrison has lost his critical personal advantage over Anthony Albanese across a range of leadership attributes as the Prime Minister declares himself the underdog at the next election.

An exclusive Newspoll commissioned by The Australian shows Mr Morrison still retains a lead over his rival as the more experienced and decisive leader and one with a vision for Australia. However, the margins have been dramatically reduced.

For the first time, Mr Morrison trails the Opposition Leader on trust, likeability, caring and understanding the major issues of concern for most Australians.

The Prime Minister is now also considered more arrogant and not in touch with voters. Campaigning in western Sydney on Monday, Mr Morrison described himself as the underdog in next year’s election race.

 

“Well, I think that’s fairly clear. And I’ve been there before, on more than one occasion,” he said in St Mary’s.

“And what I’m thrilled to be doing is, having spent pretty much since June locked up in various quarantines and other lockdowns in NSW and Canberra, I am just pleased to be out and about, talking to people.”

The key poll measuring the personal attributes of both leaders marks a reversal of fortune for Mr Morrison, who just six months ago held a significant lead over Mr Albanese across all but one of the character questions.

It has also deprived the Prime Minister of a critical election ­advantage he had heading into the 2019 election when he enjoyed a significant advantage over Bill Shorten across the same range of leadership qualities.

 

There is a critical distinction between the past and former leadership contests at similar points in the electoral cycle, with Mr Albanese presenting as a smaller political target than his predecessor.

While voters have marked down Mr Morrison, Mr Albanese’s ratings have also fallen and remain at relatively low levels across many of the categories, with a large number of voters still to make up their mind about the Opposition Leader.

The Newspoll shows Mr Morrison’s assessment as an experienced leader has fallen from 79 per cent in April – the highest ranking for a prime minister since Kevin Rudd in 2013 – to 69 per cent in the latest survey. Mr Albanese fell from 64 per cent to 60 per cent.

Mr Morrison was also still considered a stronger and more decisive leader but has fallen from 65 per cent of voters agreeing with this assessment in April to 54 per cent. At the height of the pandemic last year, it was 70 per cent. Mr Albanese fell from 45 per cent to 43 per cent.

 

Voters have also lost faith in both leaders, with Mr Morrison’s trust quota falling from 57 per cent in April to now just 42 per cent. The Opposition Leader fell from 48 per cent to 44 per cent over the same period. When Mr Morrison was up against Mr Shorten, he held a 50-43 lead on this measure.

The number of people who ­believed Mr Morrison to be arrogant jumped from 52 per cent to 60 per cent compared to Mr Albanese, who fell from 40 per cent to 38 per cent.

The largest fall for the Prime Minister was among voters asked to assess whether they liked him – dropping from 63 per cent to 47 per cent – with Mr Albanese marginally ahead on 50 per cent, having fallen two points.

Anthony Albanese has succeeded in presenting a smaller political target than his predecessor. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Mr Albanese was regarded as being more in touch with voters than Mr Morrison, with the Prime Minister sliding from 54 per cent to 41 per cent against Mr Albanese on 46 per cent.

While Mr Morrison maintained a lead on the Labor leader in having a vision for the country, this margin narrowed from 70-54 in April to 57-53 in the current survey.

Mr Albanese also leads Mr Morrison as someone who cared about people and understood the major issues.

The headline Newspoll results, revealed in The Australian on Monday, showed the Coalition pegging back two points in the primary vote contest, improving from 35 per cent to 37 per cent with Labor steady on 38 per cent.

The poll also reflected a further fall in Mr Morrison’s approval ratings to their lowest point since March last year.