Barnaby Joyce cracked a smile walking into Parliament House despite a new poll showing almost half of voters in his seat want him to resign.
The Deputy Prime Minister’s affair with 33-year-old former staffer Vikki Campion isn’t going down well with his New England electorate, with a ReachTEL poll showing a dramatic slump in his primary vote.
Despite this, he smirked when asked by TV reporters in Canberra if he was confident he would survive as leader after Nationals MP rallied behind their embattled leader.
‘Yes, I am. I am very confident,’ he said.
Barnaby Joyce smirked for the TV cameras despite a new ReachTEL poll showing almost half of voters in his New England electorate want him to resign as Deputy Prime Minister
The poll of 1,206 voters in Mr Joyce’s seat found his affair with former staffer Vikki Campion (left) had turned off more men than women
The Nationals leader very public split from his wife of 24 years, Natalie, is turning off more men than women, the poll of 1,206 residents commissioned by Fairfax Media found.
Almost half of voters surveyed in his rural northern New South Wales seat believe their local member should either resign as Deputy Prime Minister or leave parliament altogether.
Mr Joyce faced voters at a December 2 by-election, triggered by the discovery he was a dual New Zealand citizen through his father.
Since then, his primary vote has crashed from 65 per cent to 43 per cent, the ReachTel phone poll taken on Tuesday night found.
The Nationals leader (pictured in 2016 with wife Natalie and their daughter) has suffered a sharp drop in his primary vote, which fell from 65 per cent in December to 43 per cent
His affair and separation from the mother of his four daughters has divided voters in his electorate, with 47.2 per cent of them believing he should either resign as Deputy Prime Minister or quit parliament altogether, compared with 45.3 per cent who say he should stay as Nationals leader.
Men appear to be more offended by his affair, with 49.6 per cent of male voters in his seat believing he should quit his party leadership or leave politics, compared with 44.9 of women in New England.
Despite the bad political news, the poll found Mr Joyce would hold his seat 52 per cent to 48 per cent, after preferences, if he faced a challenge from his long-time nemesis and former independent MP Tony Windsor.
Mr Joyce’s affair with his wife Ms Campion (right) has divided voters in his New England seat