CANBERRA, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Kevin Rudd's popularity continues to rise, widening his lead over Tony Abbott as the nation's preferred prime minister since he was restored as prime minister just two weeks ago, lifting the Australian Labor Party (ALP)'s primary vote to its best since the last election, the latest Newspoll showed on Tuesday.
The Newspoll, published in The Australian today, showed the ALP and the coalition tied at 50 percent each on a two-party preferred basis.
According to the figures, Labor's primary vote is up 9 percentage points since Kevin Rudd was restored as prime minister, giving the ALP 38 percent, equal to its level in the August 2010 election.
And the coalition's primary vote stands at 42 percent, down six points since the change in Labor leadership.
Voter satisfaction with Kevin Rudd is up 7 points to 43 percent from 36 percent at the previous weekend. A four-point rise as preferred prime minister to 53 percent gives him a 22-point lead over the Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who fell 4 points to 31 points.
In addition, 24 percent of voters want an election before Sept. 14, 25 percent want it on the nominated date and only 9 percent want it later, with 41 percent not expressing a preference.
