Turnbull backed by 70 per cent of voters

Malcolm Turnbull has taken an instant lead as preferred prime minister in the first poll taken since his swearing in on Tuesday.

The snap SMS Morgan poll showed 70 per cent of voters felt Mr Turnbull was the better prime minister, well ahead of 24 per cent for Labor leader Bill Shorten.

Six per cent of voters indicated someone else or could not say.

Even Labor voters were pleased with the change, with 50 per cent endorsing him as the better prime minister over 44 per cent for Mr Shorten.

Across all states, Mr Turnbull was most popular in Western Australia (76 per cent) and least popular in the ACT (61 per cent).

The poll involved 1204 voters and was conducted on Tuesday afternoon.