The parliamentary year resumes this week and unless Malcolm Turnbull is lucky it will be his final one as Prime Minister. There are regrets, doubts and, worst of all, dark forebodings. Having sacked a PM only two years into the job, the Liberal Party now finds itself in political trouble.

The problem is Turnbull. He is not popular among his party members and, according to polls, among many who have no such allegiance. Nor does he resonate with small-l liberals who once assumed he was the second coming of Gough Whitlam. Simply put, in the 16 months he has been Prime Minister Turnbull has not lived up to expectations.

He came to power on a wave of personal popularity, but has lacked political conviction or insight in office. Last winter he opted for a laggard election campaign that just drove about a million conservatives away from the party of Menzies. We are only in February, but already his government has lost a senior minister in the expenses scandal.

Add to this the controversy surrounding Turnbull's $1.75-million Liberal Party donation and it is no wonder authority is draining away from "Mr Harbourside Mansion" as if from an open wound.