CANBERRANS are flocking back to the Labor Party following Kevin Rudd's return to the position of Prime Minister this week.
An independent Lonergan Research poll conducted in the ACT the day after former party leader Julia Gillard was dropped by the caucus showed the primary vote for the ALP rose by 4 per cent.
Based on those poll results, if an election was to be held now, the ALP would receive 47 per cent of the primary vote in the ACT in the lower house.
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On a two-party preferred basis, the Labor Party would win in the territory with 61.4 per cent, up from 59.9 per cent two weeks ago when Lonergan Research took the first poll.
And the fall in support for the Liberal Party in the Senate could give the Greens party the second ACT seat.
Lonergan Research polled 1524 eligible ACT voters on June 13 before the leadership changed and polled a further 1056 on June 27 the day after it changed.
Managing director Chris Lonergan said the poll showed traditional Labor voters were coming back to the party following the change of leader.
''It's consistent with a disenfranchised Labor voter that has been voting for a minor party … returning to Labor,'' he said.
The Liberal primary vote (35 per cent) and Greens vote (14 per cent) remained steady since the last poll while support of the minor parties fell from 8 per cent to 4 per cent.
Mr Lonergan said the results for the Senate indicated the Greens had a chance of attaining a seat as the Liberal support fell below the quota needed to automatically qualify through primary votes.
The Liberal Party's primary vote had fallen from 35 per cent to 33 per cent.
He said that before rounding out the figure, it was 32.7 per cent, which was below the quota of 33.3 per cent required to be elected on primary vote.
The ALP would receive 44 per cent of the primary vote in the Senate, an increase of 5 per cent.
The Greens vote fell 1 per cent to 16 per cent of the primary vote and minor parties fell 2 per cent to 7 per cent of the vote.
''Based on these results, the ALP would comfortably win one seat in the Senate with the second going to either the Liberal Party or the Greens, depending on how preferences fell,'' Mr Lonergan said.
