NSW election 2015: Polls suggest Mike Baird's Coalition to defeat Luke Foley's ALP with reduced majority

Updated

Premier Mike Baird's Coalition government is set to survive a swing against it and hang on to several key seats to return to power after Saturday's New South Wales election, two polls suggest.

An Ipsos poll published in Fairfax newspapers showed the Coalition ahead of Labor 54 per cent to 46 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

The result represented a 10 per cent swing against the Government since the 2011 election.

Fairfax reported the poll results showed the Coalition could lose 18 seats under redrawn electorate boundaries, retaining 51 seats compared to Labor's 38.

Mr Baird led Opposition Leader Luke Foley as preferred premier 56 per cent to 27 per cent.

A Galaxy poll, published in News Corporation newspapers, indicated Mr Baird was likely to hang on to the marginal seats of Campbelltown, Coogee and The Entrance.

That poll also put the Coalition ahead of Labor 54 per cent to 46 per cent after preferences.

News Corporation reported the polls suggested the Government could retain all its seats except 10.

Mr Foley said he had always believed winning the election would be difficult.

"I've always said this is a big mountain to climb but I'm in this race to win it," he told 702 ABC Sydney.

"There's some very important issues at stake in this election, not the least of which is the future of the state's electricity network."

In an interview for the ABC'S AM program, Mr Baird said he was not concerned about the impact of federal issues on the state election, despite Mr Foley's attempts to link Mr Baird's re-election with Tony Abbott's survival as Prime Minister.

"Obviously the Federal Government has gone through some difficult times, but this election is about our record and where we want to take the state," Mr Baird said.

"I see the Leader of the Opposition is out there this week and, in an increasingly desperate way, wanting to say he's going to organise partyroom votes in the Coalition in Canberra after this election.

"The Opposition might like to talk about it, but they're not understanding that the people in the street understand that this is about state issues and where we want to take them."

The polls follow an ABC Vote Compass survey that indicated Mr Baird was more popular than any leader in the country's three most recent elections.

Topics: elections, states-and-territories, polls, nsw

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