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Statements about party leaders

1 Aug 2018

Q. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

 

  Total agree Total disagree   Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know
Political parties should not change leaders before elections 64% 21%   21% 43% 17% 4% 14%
Political parties have every right to change leaders before elections 46% 42%   10% 36% 27% 15% 12%
Political parties should replace their leader if they are unpopular with voters 56% 29%   13% 43% 22% 7% 15%
If one of the major parties changed their leader I would be more likely to support them 24% 49%   5% 19% 35% 14% 27%
If one of the major parties changed their leaders I would be less likely to support them 30% 44%   6% 24% 33% 11% 26%
The leader of a party has little impact on my vote 41% 49%   9% 32% 34% 15% 9%

 

While 64% agreed that political parties should not change leaders before elections, 46% agreed they have the right to change leaders and 56% agreed that they should replace a leader who is unpopular.

Nearly half (49%) rejected the statement that the leader of the party has little impact on their vote, while 30% said changing leaders would make them less likely to vote for a party and 24% said it would make them more likely.

Labor voters were divided over voting for a party that changed leaders (28% more likely/30% less likely) while Liberal National voters were much less likely to support them (23% more likely/37% less likely).

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