Teal voters are more likely to be Labor-leaning than conservative, study finds

Fewer than one in five teal independent voters were disaffected Coalition voters, with most identifying as far to the political left as Labor voters regard themselves, a major study has found.

The 2022 election saw Labor, under Anthony Albanese, win a slim majority of 77 seats with a record low primary of almost 33%, while the Coalition shrank to just 58 seats, losing 10 seats to Labor, three to the Greens and six to teal independents in ordinarily safe blue-ribbon seats.

The study found that among supporters of teal independents, 31% voted Labor in 2019, 24% for the Greens and only 18% voted Liberal.

Asked to rate themselves on zero to 10 on a left-right scale, Coalition voters put themselves on the political right with an average score of 6.7, while Greens were on the left with an average of 3.

Rated on a 10-point scale, Albanese was the most popular leader in 2022, with an average evaluation of 5.3, followed by the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, on 4.1.

The study provides new insight into the qualities that voters preferred in Albanese, with strong leads over Morrison on compassion (+39% to Albanese), honesty (+29%) and trustworthiness (28%).