Twice as many Australians support New Zealand's Helen Clark to lead the United Nations than Kevin Rudd.
And even Labor voters prefer the former Kiwi prime minister to Mr Rudd, a poll has found. 
The Essential poll, released Wednesday, indicates Australia's two-time former prime minister would no longer muster the widespread public support that characterised the "Kevin 07" election campaign and kept his leadership ambitions alive against Julia Gillard after being dumped by his party in 2010.
Mr Rudd has spent the past 12 months testing and rallying support for a bid to become UN secretary-general but has not made his candidacy official. His spokeswoman recently declared that he was "not a candidate".
The Essential poll found 45 per cent of 1020 people surveyed thought Ms Clark would be a better leader for the UN, with just 21 per cent opting for Mr Rudd.
More people - 34 per cent - did not know who would make the better secretary-general than those who supported Mr Rudd.
Among Labor voters, 36 per cent preferred Ms Clark, compared with 34 per cent who backed Mr Rudd.
Just 17 per cent of Coalition voters would support Mr Rudd.
A spokeswoman for Mr Rudd could not be reached on Wednesday.
He said recently that he believed an Eastern European candidate was the most likely to be chosen to replace Ban Ki-moon as secretary-general. "Last I looked my name is not Ruddovich," Mr Rudd said.
The current frontrunner of nine declared candidates is believed to be UNESCO secretary-general Irina Bokova, a Bulgarian former communist who is favoured by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The United States and Britain are known to favour the appointment of a woman, which could boost the chances of Ms Clark, 66, who is the third most senior employee at the UN.
Mr Rudd's interest in the job has been a source of friction inside the Coalition with one Liberal backbencher recently quoted anonymously saying if Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull swung his government's support behind the former Labor leader it would be his own "knights and dames moment".
The Essential poll found a hardening of support for the Bill Shorten-led opposition a week out from the budget and less than a fortnight from the likely start to the 2016 election campaign.
It found Labor ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis. Recent Essential polls have had the two major parties evenly poised at 50-50.
But 42 per cent of respondents still expect Mr Turnbull to lead his government to re-election compared to 28 per cent who expect Labor to be back in office on   July 3.
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