The Economist has hesitantly thrown its support behind Kevin Rudd as the nation gears up to head to the polls next week, declaring that the Labor Party's "decent record" in recent years makes it the best party to face the challenges of the future.

While acknowledging that the Liberal-National coalition is the natural home of The Economist's vote, the magazine says in an editorial due to be published on Saturday that it has broken with tradition and endorsed Mr Rudd, although "the choice for voters, frankly, is not great".

Support: The Economist has backed Kevin Rudd as Australia's best choice for next weekend's poll, "largely because of Labor's decent record". Credit:Andrew Meares

"The choice between a man with a defective manifesto and one with a defective personality is not appealing—but Mr Rudd gets our vote, largely because of Labor's decent record," The Economist writes, describing the parties' respective leaders as "Daggy Abbott and rude Rudd".