Julia Gillard worked harder, but Kevin Rudd is smarter.

Rudd is less superficial, but more arrogant and erratic. And he’s certainly more understanding of the problems facing Australia and more in touch with “ordinary people”. Whoever they are.

That’s the findings by Essential Research this week, which polled 1000-plus voters on the personal attributes of our leaders.

Put Rudd head-to-head with Tony Abbott, and the comparison is even more stark — and demonstrates how big a game personality politics has become. The Opposition Leader doesn’t score higher on a single attribute. If Rudd actually manages to win this election, that will be the poison.

Voters even consider Abbott more arrogant than the reborn Prime Minister. Now that’s saying something …