Barnaby Joyce says he’s still got support within electorate

It comes after a poll conducted by The Northern Daily Leader, which showed Mr Joyce had lost the vote of more than a third of New England constituents.

Nearly 800 people voted in an online poll, which asked constituents if their vote had changed since the Barnaby Joyce saga began in February.

Just under 35 per cent said they would vote differently if Mr Joyce is the Nationals’ candidate next year, while 40.5 per cent said they did not vote for him in the first place.

But there was still some support for the embattled MP, with close to a quarter (23.73 per cent) saying they would still vote for him.

However, the results indicate his support base has dropped. A ReachTEL poll conducted by Fairfax Media in February, after news of Mr Joyce’s affair first broke, showed 34.3 per cent of voters remained steadfast in their support of the former deputy prime minister.

Mr Joyce said as he travelled around the electorate, “overwhelmingly it’s support”.

“Some people might have questions about my approach, but few have questions about the outcome, we have delivered massively,” Mr Joyce said.

“I never take any support for granted. As they always do, people will make up their own mind at the ballot box.

“People want me to know that I have support, that they are backing me.

“Of course there are times I find myself pushing a shopping trolley through the shops and a detractor will tell me what they think.”

The New England MP has been criticised for appearing at a number of events around the region while on two weeks of sick leave.

However, Mr Joyce said it was “not in my nature to sit around for two weeks”.

“The part of the job I love the most is getting around electorate,” he said.

“I want to spend as much time as possible not in the national media, but just seeing people one-on-one, on the ground.”

Northern Daily Leader