Turnbull arrogant but likeable: Newspoll

Voters consider Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrogant but likeable, while opposition leader Bill Shorten is thought to be more caring and in touch with people but less trustworthy.

That's according to a Newspoll published in The Australian on Wednesday, which showed Mr Turnbull's rating has worsened over the past three months on eight out of nine character traits surveyed, while the Labor leader improved his scores across the board.

The poll of 1709 voters found that 51 per cent of voters consider the prime minister to be in touch with people, a fall of three percentage points since February, while Mr Shorten scored 60 per cent, a jump of 12 points.

Sixty-five per cent of people agreed that the Labor leader cared for people, compared to 57 per cent who thought that of the prime minister.

Six out of ten people said Mr Turnbull was arrogant, while just 47 per cent said the same of Mr Shorten.

Though Mr Shorten narrowed the gap, voters said the prime minister was far more likeable than the Labor leader, by 68 per cent to 57 per cent.

They also considered him more trustworthy, with 56 per cent of voters agreeing that Mr Turnbull could be trusted while only 49 per cent said the same thing of Mr Shorten.