But while that poll may have eased some of the pressure on Ms Gillard, its assessment of primary voting intentions shows Labor still a long way behind the Coalition. The Herald/Nielsen poll puts Coalition support at 53 per cent, ahead of Labor on 47 per cent, suggesting the government would change if an election were held now.

This explains the palpable sense of panic that never appears far from the Labor camp and it also explains the continual talk of a change of leadership.

Frankly, the chances of a leadership change rescuing the party’s electoral prospects seem very remote.

No doubt many voters still resent Labor’s summary removal of elected prime minister Kevin Rudd and the appointment of Ms Gillard by the party’s unpopular numbers men. Indeed, the latest poll shows Mr Rudd convincingly ahead of Ms Gillard as the public’s preferred prime minister (57 per cent against 35 per cent).

But the political bloodbath that would follow a return to Rudd makes the scenario almost unthinkable. The operators who engineered Ms Gillard’s ascension would fight tooth and nail to avoid putting themselves in the way of a Rudd-led retribution. The infighting that would accompany a Rudd coup would probably sink Labor without a trace.

As things stand, the party has an extremely hard task to persuade voters that it deserves another chance. Its best chance is to fall in behind Ms Gillard and toil night and day to raise her esteem in the electorate.

Those backbenchers who are complaining of Ms Gillard’s lack of electoral appeal should consider their own roles in helping create that position. They can’t, on one hand, demand that their leader put political expediency above principle on policy issues then, on the other hand, complain about her consequent credibility issues.

Hunter MP Greg Combet said it best when he pointed out that the prime ministership can’t be seen as some kind of ‘‘revolving door’’. Labor’s faction bosses made that mistake with the premiership of NSW, with predictable results.