The New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, appears to have regained some approval after a topsy-turvy few months of backflips and key staff movements.

The Coalition leads Labor 53% to 47% in a Fairfax/ReachTEL poll of more than 1600 people reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday.

The result, just weeks after Troy Grant stood down from the Nationals leadership and deputy premiership, is an improvement for the state government following a 50-50 result in the same poll in August.

Baird has also regained the status of preferred premier, taking 50.6% of the vote compared with Luke Foley’s 49.4 per cent.

In August, Foley led Baird 51.3% to 48.7%.

The premier admitted the government had “got it wrong” when he backtracked on a decision to ban greyhound racing in NSW in October.

Almost half (49.3%) of those polled supported the reversal of the ban, while 32 per cent opposed it, according to the reports.

Grant stood down from his key roles after the Nationals suffered a significant swing at the Orange byelection, which resulted in the party’s former safe seat going to the Shooters Fishers and Farmers party.