It will definitely help him assert his authority as leader of the major Opposition party and get out of Russel Norman's and Winston Peters' shadows, thus (Labour hopes) giving him more attention from the media as the run-up to the 2014 election begins.
But the critics will not be silenced completely. They will say Shearer is lucky the poll was conducted before his admission regarding his New York bank account.
Those critics will note Shearer still lags way behind the Prime Minister, who continues to rate at a staggering 60 per cent-plus as preferred prime minister. Shearer is the preferred choice of only half of Labour supporters at most.
There is no sign yet that he can pull voters across to Labour who are only weakly attached to John Key-led National. Key has long had the reverse effect on Labour. The good news for Labour from the poll is that Key's personal rating - upon which National's grip on power almost solely hangs - seems to be in decline. But it is a very slow decline.
With the Herald and other recent polls showing support for the centre-left running at between 43 and 47 per cent while the centre-right is registering at between 46 and 52 per cent, National, if only narrowly, still holds the advantage as the halfway point of the parliamentary term approaches. Shearer's improved rating is a start in turning those numbers around. But it is only a start.