The approval of Julie Bishop as preferred Liberal leader has nearly doubled in five months, while Treasurer Joe Hockey's leadership ambitions have taken another blow.
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The Foreign Minister's spectacular rise among Liberal candidates in an exclusive Fairfax Ipsos nationwide poll has her level-pegging with Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Both have 20 per cent support among voters.
But the overall popularity of Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull remains undimmed, with 35 per cent support among the 1401 people surveyed between Thursday and Sunday, making him the most popular option for the Liberals.
Overall, the poll found the Coalition had clawed back ground on Labor to trail 49-51 on a two-party preferred basis.
For Labor, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has solidified his position as preferred leader of the ALP, putting further distance between himself and possible future leadership contenders Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese.
Mr Hockey's leadership aspirations, revealed earlier in the year in an authorised biography Hockey: Not Your Average Joe, have tanked further since the last Fairfax Nielsen poll in July, slipping from 11 per cent to 8 per cent as the government's first budget continues to be its biggest political liability.
In further bad news for Mr Hockey, just 9 per cent of respondents who identified themselves as Coalition voters prefer him as leader.
By comparison, 41 per cent of Coalition voters prefer Mr Abbott and 24 per cent Mr Turnbull. Just 2 per cent of Coalition voters back Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
The Coalition's recent focus on national security and foreign diplomacy appears to have resulted in a surge in support for Ms Bishop.
Asked if the poll showed Ms Bishop was his "heir apparent", the Prime Minister on Tuesday smiled and praised several of his cabinet colleagues, beginning with the Foreign Minister.
"I think Julie is my stellar colleague, I think that's what she is, along with Malcolm Turnbull, Joe Hockey, Scott Morrison and the rest of the team," he told reporters in Sydney.
"They all shine in a different way but they all shine."
Footage of the Foreign Minister tackling Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a recent summit in Italy and her tireless work for justice for the victims of the MH17 disaster over the Ukraine have boosted her stocks.
She was credited with driving the unanimous resolution of the United Nations Security Council passed in July to demand access to the crash site of MH17, allowing for the repatriation of victims' bodies to Australia and other countries.
Fairfax Ipsos pollster Jessica Elgood said Ms Bishop's appeal to female voters in particular was a striking finding of the survey.
Among female voters, Ms Bishop and Mr Turnbull are heavily favoured, with 27 per cent and 31 per cent respectively. Just 18 per cent prefer Mr Abbott and 8 per cent Mr Hockey.
Ms Bishop's rising support emerged just days after she told the Coalition party room that Labor deputy leader Tanya Plibersek was after the job of Opposition Leader Bill Shorten under cover of the royal commission into union corruption.
But the poll showed Mr Shorten has extended his lead as preferred Labor leader from 25 per cent in June to 30 per cent in the latest poll.
Mr Shorten's popularity is stronger with female voters than men, 32 per cent to 29 per cent. No other male leadership candidate was preferred by women over men.
In the same period, former leadership candidate Mr Albanese slipped from 19 per cent to 18 per cent and Ms Plibersek has risen from 17 per cent to 18 per cent.
Further back in the field, Labor treasury spokesman Chris Bowen has fallen from 7 per cent support to 6 per cent and finance spokesman Tony Burke has fallen from 7 per cent to 4 per cent.
with Latika Bourke
