Chris Minns has pulled away from Dominic Perrottet in the minds of voters, boosting Labor to its most competitive position since its landslide 2011 election loss.
The NSW Opposition Leader has overtaken Mr Perrottet as the preferred premier, according to a new poll in the Nine Newspapers.
The survey, conducted after the NSW by-elections but before the Sydney train crisis, revealed the incumbent premier was trailing Mr Minns 35-29 per cent.
Mr Minns’ approval rating is up from 23 per cent in November.
However, 39 per cent of respondents said they were undecided on who should lead the state.
The Coalition’s primary vote has also taken a hit, down from 41 per cent to 37 per cent.
Conversely, Labor’s primary vote has jumped to 34 per cent – up from a low of 25.6 per cent following the party’s 2011 loss.
Meanwhile, support for the Greens has slipped to 8 per cent, while independents continue their rise in voters’ minds, surging to 13 per cent.
With just a little more than a year until the next state election, the poll could act as an early wake-up call to the government.
The fall in Mr Perrottet’s popularity follows a turbulent summer as Omicron surged across the state and businesses were forced to shutter due to widespread staff shortages.
Earlier this month,xjmtzyw the Coalition suffered significant swings against it and lost a key seat of Bega at the Super Saturday of by-elections, plunging it further into minority government.
In Willoughby, formerly held by Gladys Berejiklian, Liberal Tim James staved off a battle from independent Larissa Penn albeit with an 18 per cent swing against him.
Mr Perrottet has vowed to win back the voters who deserted his government but ultimately defended his handling of the pandemic.
“We accept that in a pandemic, you are not here to make a popular decision. You are here to take the hard road and the right road,” the Premier said at the time.
“With a populist approach going into lockdowns, it may be popular but ultimately it is not right.”
