New Zealand Opposition On Course for Election Victory, Poll Shows

New Zealand’s main opposition National Party is on course to win the October election, according to the latest opinion poll.

(Bloomberg) — New Zealand’s main opposition National Party is on course to win the October election, according to the latest opinion poll.

Support for National rose 4.3 percentage points to 40.9% in the latest Newshub-Reid Research poll published late Monday in Wellington, its best result in more than three years. Support for the ruling Labour Party fell 5.5 points to 26.8%, its lowest since 2017, when it was last in opposition.

If the results were replicated at the Oct. 14 election, National would be able to form a government with the help of the right-wing ACT Party, which had 10.1% support in the poll. Labour wouldn’t be able to muster a majority with the Green Party, which had 12.3% support, and the Maori Party, on 3.1%.

Read More: Forget Jacinda-Mania, New Zealand Now Has Two Guys Called Chris

With less than five weeks to go, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faces an uphill battle to convince voters that Labour deserves a third term in office. The economy has been in recession, prices are surging amid a cost-of-living crisis and mortgage rates have jumped as the central bank tries to rein in inflation.

The Treasury Department will on Tuesday publish its Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update, which is expected to show wider budget deficits as the slowing economy curbs the government’s tax revenue. 

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.