Polls back Rudd as Labor leader

A wave of new opinion polls show Kevin Rudd is more popular with voters than Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

But even though Mr Rudd appears to be a better chance of helping Labor avoid defeat at the next federal election, Ms Gillard is still expected to win Monday's leadership ballot.

Newspoll has Mr Rudd in front 53 per cent to 30 per cent backing for Ms Gillard.

The Nielsen Poll is even worse for the PM, with the former Foreign Minister in front 58 per cent to 34 per cent.

And the latest Galaxy Poll has found 52 per cent of voters believe Mr Rudd has a better chance of winning an election for Labor than Ms Gillard, who has the support of only 26 per cent.

Galaxy also says voters would dump Labor in an election now, with the party losing 14 seats under Ms Gillard and six under Mr Rudd.