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More than twice as many Australians would prefer to see former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark become the United Nations' secretary general than former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, a poll revealed on Thursday.
The Essential poll, published in Fairfax Media newspapers of Thursday, showed that even Labor voters - the political party Rudd led between 2007 and 2010 - would prefer Clark to take over from current secretary general Ban Ki-moon when he retires at the end of 2016.
The poll found that 45 percent of those surveyed thought Clark would make a better candidate, with just one in five - or 21 percent - Australians choosing Rudd. Thirty-four percent were unsure.
Even among the Labor voters polled, Clark was preferred to Rudd, with the former NZ PM supported by 36 percent of left-leaning voters, while 34 percent backed Rudd. Only 17 percent of Liberal voters would support a Rudd bid, the poll showed.
The news comes a week after it was revealed support for Rudd's candidacy had waned.
Despite earlier being considered a favorite for the role, Rudd is yet to officially throw his hat into the ring, and looks unlikely to, after he recently conceded that it would be an eastern European candidate who would get the nod.
"Last I looked my name is not Ruddovich," the former Australian Prime Minister said.
