Labor MP Michael Danby wears his disdain for the Greens like a badge of honour, but new ReachTEL polling reveals that it could hurt him at the polls. The poll of 818 residents of Melbourne Ports, commissioned by the Greens, shows Danby’s primary vote is as low as 23.7%, with the Liberals at 44.7% of voters, and the Greens at 20.2%.

The poll also reveals that voters aren’t so keen on Danby’s decision to go it alone and preference the Liberals above the Greens. The Labor MP has been handing out separate “how to vote” cards, authorised by him personally, instead of the ones authorised at Labor HQ. From the sample group, 36.4% said they were now less likely to vote for him, while 29.7% declared themselves to be more likely. The decision to vote for Danby was unchanged for 33.9%. For voters that had said they would plan on voting Labor, 47.9% said they would be less likely to vote for Danby, and among undecided voters 31.7% said it made them less likely to vote Labor. Of course, it is a Greens-commissioned survey and has a small sample size.

In the last federal election, Labor’s Greens preference helped Danby to return to Parliament.