Labour leader Chris Hipkins has played down a new poll showing his party falling below its 2023 election result, saying there is still plenty of campaigning to come before New Zealanders vote on November 7.
According to a reprot by Stuff, the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll puts Labour on 25.9 per cent, down from 27.8 per cent in the previous Curia poll and below the 26.9 per cent it received at the 2023 election.
Hipkins said he would not read too much into any single poll.
“I’m just not going to comment on every individual poll between now and election day. There’ll be increasing numbers of them,” he said. “We’re going in to win this election campaign. That is absolutely what I’m focused on. New Zealanders know they can’t afford three more years of this government,” as quoted by Stuff.
Hipkins added, “This is just one poll of many. We have caucus conversations every week. I know our team is feeling very buoyant, very confident, very much looking forward to the election campaign,” Stuff has quoted.
National remained ahead of Labour on 29 per cent, although it also lost around two points compared with the previous Curia poll.
The poll marks the first time a major nationwide political poll has placed both National and Labour below 30 per cent.
The Greens and ACT were the biggest beneficiaries, with Green Party support rising 3.8 points to 13.9 per cent and ACT climbing 3.2 points to 10.5 per cent, Stuff reported.
New Zealand First fell 0.7 points to 8.4 per cent, while Te Pāti Māori rose 0.5 points to 2 per cent.
Based on the poll's projection, National would win 39 seats, Labour 35, the Greens 18, ACT 14, New Zealand First 11 and Te Pāti Māori three. The numbers would be enough for the current coalition parties to return to government, as reported by Stuff.
Opportunity falls below threshold
Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong has dismissed the latest result despite her party falling below the five per cent threshold needed to enter Parliament through the party vote without winning an electorate seat.
Opportunity dropped 1.6 points to 4.5 per cent, marking the first nationwide poll since July to put the party below the threshold.
“The overall polling trend has us on track to enter Parliament because thousands of Kiwis are looking for a circuit breaker to clean up politics and take New Zealand forward,” Wong told The Post.
“Earning the mandate to represent those Kiwis isn’t easy. We’ll keep working hard for it and take nothing for granted,” as quoted by Stuff.
Luxon remains preferred PM
National leader Christopher Luxon remained the preferred prime minister, despite his support falling two points to 21.2 per cent.
Hipkins was second on 16.9 per cent, down 2.9 points. New Zealand First leader Winston Peters followed on 10.7 per cent, while ACT leader David Seymour was on 7.8 per cent and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick on 7 per cent, as reported by Stuff.
Hipkins, however, had the highest net favourability rating among party leaders. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents viewed him favourably, compared with 41 per cent unfavourably, giving him a net rating of -4.
Luxon and Seymour both recorded net favourability ratings of -19.
On individual issues, National was rated strongest on the economy, inflation, education, safety, government spending, the environment and not increasing taxes. Labour led on health, poverty and housing, as reported by Stuff.
The poll was conducted by Curia Market Research for the Taxpayers’ Union between September 1 and 3, surveying 1000 adults by phone and online. The maximum margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 per cent confidence level.
The party vote figures were based on 939 decided voters, with 4.1 per cent undecided and 2 per cent declining to answer, as reported by Stuff.
Curia is owned by David Farrar and has a long-standing relationship with the National Party. Farrar also co-founded the Taxpayers’ Union and previously served on its board.
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