The Abbott government will face its first electoral test on February 8 when voters have their say in former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s Brisbane seat of Griffith.

With the government having suffered one of the sharpest drops in opinion polls of any new administration, the byelection, triggered by Mr Rudd’s announcement in November that he would resign from Parliament, will be the first proper test of the government’s popularity five months after it swept to power.

Labor candidate for the seat of Griffith, Terri Butler. Credit:Harrison Saragossi

House of Representatives Speaker Bronwyn Bishop announced on Monday afternoon that the byelection would be held on Saturday, February 8.