Small business writes off Tony Abbott as Prime Minister: SmartCompany poll

Small businesses believe Tony Abbott will not survive as Prime Minister, with a SmartCompany poll revealing an overwhelming 72% of readers think he will not last in the top job.

The anonymous, online poll was open to all SmartCompany readers yesterday, with 466 respondents.

Of those surveyed, 72% said Abbott would not survive with only 28% believing he can hang on as PM.

Read more: Can Tony Abbott hang on as Prime Minister?

The damning results follow Monday’s attempted leadership spill where 61 voted to keep Abbott against 31 who voted for him to go. 

Following the spill motion, Small Business Minister Bruce Billson told SmartCompany Abbott would survive in the top job.

“It’s the end of it for me and it’s certainly the end of it in the mood of the meeting,” Billson said of the leadership speculation.

But SmartCompany readers think differently, with the majority believing Abbott will be ditched before the federal budget in May, with 58% tipping he will be gone by then.

Most expected Abbott will get a bit of breathing space after Monday’s attempted spill, with only 1% thinking there will be another move against him this week and 6% nominating the end of the month.

Of those who think Abbott will not last as Prime Minister, 35% put a longer time limit on his tenure.  

Those surveyed said he will be gone “if he does not improve in the next two to three polls”, “after his next ‘captain’s pick’” and “after his next stuff up”.

In terms of time frame, respondents thought this would happen “before the end of the year” or “before the next election”.

But some Abbott loyalists responded that Abbott should never be replaced: “He’s our best Prime Minister ever”.

Malcolm Turnbull is the most popular choice of replacement for Tony Abbott, with 84% or 294 readers nominating Turnbull as Abbott’s successor.

Julie Bishop is the next contender most likely, with 16% thinking she will be Prime Minister, while only 1% think Joe Hockey has a chance at the top job.

Of those surveyed, 57% say they work in a small to medium size business, 28% are self-employed, 12% work in a large business and 4% of respondents are currently unemployed.