Labour leads for second Colmar-Brunton poll in a row
PLUS: Latest preferred prime minister numbers. VIDEO: English and Ardern clash in third debate.
PLUS: Latest preferred prime minister numbers. VIDEO: English and Ardern clash in third debate.
A 1 News-Colmar Brunton poll taken Saturday to Wednesday has Labour ahead of National for a second week in a row.
Its headline results (margin of error +/- 3.1%):
Party support
- Labour: 43% (no change)
- National: 39% (-2)
- NZ First: NZF 9% (+1)
- Green Party 5% (NC)
- Maori Party: 2% (+1)
- TOP 2% (+1)
- ACT 0.1%
That's the lowest level of support for National in a Colmar-Brunton poll since 2005.
But despite the dramatic reshuffle of fortunes among the major parties, the bottom line is the same as other polls over the past few months: Winston Peters would be kingmaker.
Preferred prime minister
Labour’s new leader also maintains the lead she seized last week in the preferred PM stakes. The latest standings:
- Ardern 35% (+1)
- English 31% (-2)
- Peters 5% (+1)
Presenting the results, 1 News political editor Corin Dann acknowledged another major poll had National ahead (that would be last week's Newshub-Reid Research survey, which had National on 43% to Labour's 39%, albeit with the gap closing), and that private tracking polls had the race at a toss-up.
This evening has also seen Jacinda Ardern and Bill English go head-to-head in their third debate, hosted by The Press in Christchurch. Follow NBR politics editor Rob Hosking’s debate tweetstream here, or read his full account of the fiery clash on this site tomorrow morning. Full video of the clash is below:
There are 15 days to go until the election. Voting for New Zealanders living overseas began yesterday.
Early voting for people living within New Zealand starts on Monday. In 2014, one-third cast an early ballot.
Voting in the #NZ election has begun for #Kiwis in #AUS. High Commissioner Chris Seed was first to #vote at the NZ High Commission in #CBR. pic.twitter.com/2PYGtpXszL
— NZ in Australia (@NZAustralia) September 6, 2017