It's been said before and this poll bears it out: Barry O'Farrell's downfall might have actually helped the NSW government.

The switch to Mike Baird in April when O'Farrell fell on his sword over his false evidence to a corruption inquiry appears to have insulated the Coalition from the maelstrom about to hit.

The voters love Baird. His approval rating of 60 per cent is 14 points higher than O'Farrell recorded in a Nielsen poll in February.

This despite 10 Liberal MPs being forced to the crossbench after evidence against them at the Independent Commission Against Corruption's inquiry into illegal political donations.

Baird's gamble to announce the lease to the private sector of 49 per cent of the NSW electricity "poles and wires" businesses also looks set to pay off – at least in the sense that it doesn't risk the government being thrown out of office.

The poll suggests that voters believe the sale will see electricity prices increase but enough seem willing to cop this if the money improves the infrastructure they use.

The Coalition faces losing 17 seats, but would walk away with a mandate that would deliver it billions of dollars to establish itself before the 2019 poll.

On the other side, John Robertson's approval rating remains static,  indicating a lack of cut through.

The fact that voters consider Jodi McKay – who is not even in the parliament – as almost equally desirable as Labor leader speaks volumes about the mountain Robertson needs to climb during next year's election campaign.

That said, the Fairfax/Ipsos poll contains a glimmer of hope for the ALP.

The 54-46 per cent two party-preferred result is based on preference flows at the 2011 election when Labor was at its lowest ebb.

When voters were asked how they would allocate their preference at next year's election, the Coalition lead shrinks to 51-49 per cent, well within the margin of error of 3.1 per cent.

The result must be taken with a grain of salt as giving preferences is optional in NSW elections. There's no guarantee that voters will act this way inside the ballot box.

But for a party otherwise bereft of positive news, it's as good as it gets.