Bill Shorten's poll results drop close to 'record-breaking' low
Labor is brushing off talk of a Federal leadership change after Bill Shorten saw his rating as preferred prime minister drop to just 15 per cent.
Newspoll results published today by News Corp show a two per cent drop in support for Mr Shorten compared to last month when just 17 per cent of voters said they would prefer to see him as the nation's leader.
In contrast, Malcolm Turnbull continues to ride high with 64 per cent of voters backing him as the better Prime Ministerial option.
The polls show a sharp turnaround for Mr Shorten who, in February, polled one of the highest preferred prime minister rankings in Newspoll history with 48 per cent when Tony Abbott led the government.
Mr Shorten's polling figures are now starting to drop into record breaking territory. The worst ever result for an opposition leader belongs to Brendan Nelson who polled just 7 per cent in early 2008.
Mr Turnbull had the second lowest ever ranking when he succeeded Mr Nelson as opposition leader with 14 per cent.
Overall, the poll suggests the government maintains a 52-48 two-party-preferred lead over the ALP.
But Labor is insisting the poor results can still be attributed to the new Prime Minister's honeymoon period.
"Malcolm Turnbull can only tell people what they want to hear for so long, soon the prime minister is going to have to unveil his plan," Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth told reporters in Canberra.
Colleague Catherine King, who has been an MP for 15 years, said the polls changed all the time.
"One thing that politics has taught me is that things change very quickly," she said.
But even after recording the lowest Newspoll result for any ALP leader since Simon Crean's 14 per cent in 2003, ALP heavyweights are rejecting suggestions change my be in the offing.
Labor powerbroker Sam Dastyari brushed off the chance of a leadership spill.
"Bill Shorten will not only lead Labor to the next election, he will win the next election," the NSW senator said.
For his part the Labor leader rejected suggestions he should stand down.
"I'm going to keep working every day to make sure that Australians have the best possible choice when it comes to policies on climate change, jobs, education and health care," Mr Shorten told reporters.
It will be a difficult task for an alternative ALP leader to wrest control from Mr Shorten if he does not hand over the leadership voluntarily.
Under changes to ALP leadership rules in the dying days of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government, 60 per cent of the parliamentary party would need to agree to a spill before a ballot could be held.
