Scott Morrison is poised to call an election this week as the latest Newspoll reveals Labor’s primary vote has fallen by 3 points to 38 per cent after Tuesday’s budget offerings of cheaper petrol and cash handouts.

Some Liberal frontbenchers now believe Mr Morrison will call the election this Sunday for May 21, after the ongoing mess of preselection delays in NSW sparked by factional infighting made the May 14 election option trickier.

However, Labor is maintaining an election winning two-party preferred result according to Newspoll of 54:46 when preferences are allocated.

The Coalition has increased its two-party preferred result by 1 point to 46 per cent. Labor’s lead has dropped by 1 point to 54 per cent.

After a fortnight of fallout over bullying allegations in both the major parties including claims raised in the wake of the death of Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching, Newspoll, published exclusively in The Australian, reveals Labor’s primary vote has dropped from 41 per cent to 38 per cent.

As voters consider the budget’s pre-election offers of cheaper fuel and $1500 tax cuts in July for 10 million workers, the Coalition’s primary vote remains stuck at 36 per cent but has increased by 1 point.

The result reflects internal Liberal Party polling that the budget was well-received and Coalition strategists’ hopes that a Labor victory is not yet a foregone conclusion.

There are two dates the Prime Minister can now call an election: May 14 and May 21 with Mr Morrison confirming he will call the election for “mid May.”

Mr Morrison’s approval ratings lifted a point to 42 per cent while those dissatisfied fell a point to 54 per cent.

The Prime Minister’s preferred Prime Minister rating improved slightly to 43 per cent with Mr Albanese was unchanged on 42 per cent.

The Newspoll finding comes after a week of controversy sparked by Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells’ claim under parliamentary privilege that Mr Morrison as “ruthless” and a “bully” and said he had made “racial comments” against Mr Towke during a 2007 preselection contest.

The Prime Minister suggested on Sunday that he was willing to sign a statutory declaration denying the allegations.

Michael Towke, who won the preselection battle for Cook in 2007 before the result was overturned to install Mr Morrison, told news.com.au that he stood by his claims outlined in a 2016 statutory declaration that the Prime Minister was directly involved in “racial vilification” against him.

Mr Towke, a Maronite Catholic, claims that preselectors were told he was “a Muslim” and that would be a problem if he was preselected for he seat.

Asked if he was prepared to sign a statutory declaration himself to deny the claims himself, the Prime Minister said “Yes, of course I would” but added the caveat that he had not been asked to do so.

“These are quite malicious, and bitter slurs, which are deeply offensive, and I reject them absolutely,” he said.

“People will throw all sorts of mud at you – particularly when you get up close to an election and they’ll make all sorts of things up, because they have other motivations.”

“My record of caring and loving the Lebanese community in this country speaks for itself and stands head and shoulders above all the other pretenders.”

- by Samantha Maiden, news.com.au