IT LOOKS like Labor can kiss majority rule goodbye, according to this week's Patterson-Canberra Times poll. After the election in just under two weeks, the inevitable question will be what part voters' views about Chief Minister Jon Stanhope played if such a result occurs.

The ACT Liberals have played up perceptions of the Chief Minister's arrogance, much as Labor pushed the idea the Liberals were arrogant and out of touch in the run-up to the last federal election.

According to the figures we publish today, Stanhope has a pretty strong arrogance quotient, with about half of all voters seeing him as arrogant.

But more than half also see him as strong, passionate and capable. So what are we to make of these results?

If Labor, to form government after the election, is forced into a working relationship with up to four Greens Assembly members, it will be a test for Stanhope. He's been there before, of course, with minority government the norm rather the exception in the ACT, but will Stanhope have the necessary patience and forbearance to work effectively with the Greens?

Perhaps as importantly, will his Labor colleagues see him as the person for the job, or will they elect to pass the leadership baton to the heir apparent, Katy Gallagher?

Much of Labor's campaigning has featured the Stanhope/Gallagher double act on the hustings. This has prompted speculation regarding what Labor's own research is telling them about voters' views on the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.

As for Liberal leader Zed Seselja, he can take a kind of comfort from the polling on preferred chief minister, which indicates he has made a big impact on voters since his elevation to the leadership. He is neck-and-neck with Stanhope, allowing for the margin of error present in all opinion polling.

Sadly for the ACT Liberals, though, that is not translating into sufficient voter support across the board to lift them into government. For that they can blame the growing popularity of the Greens, which in itself indicates both Labor and the Liberals are being marked down by an increasingly cynical electorate.