Labour’s new leader Chris Hipkins has brought along a significant poll bump, with Labour now ahead in both the 1News Kantar Public and Newshub Reid Research polls. Both major television networks have released the first polls of Hipkins’ premiership tonight.
But while both polls now have Labour ahead, both also predict a hung parliament.
The 1News poll had Labour ahead on 38% – up five points and the party’s best result in the poll since January last year. Newshub, too, has Labour sitting on 38%, up 5.7 points. National sits at 37% in the TVNZ poll and at 36.6% for Newshub.
Act sits at around the 10 point mark in both polls, with the Greens sitting between 7% and 8% in each poll.
Despite Labour’s jump, neither poll showed enough for Labour to cling onto power – but National wouldn’t be able to either. Assuming Te Pāti Māori goes with Labour and the Greens, both the left and right blocs would end up with 60 seats each, one short of the necessary 61 to govern.
In the preferred prime minister stakes, Hipkins has shot into first place – above National’s Christopher Luxon. The TVNZ poll has Hipkins on 23% to Luxon’s 22%, while Newshub has Hipkins on 19.6% to Luxon’s 18.8%. Former prime minister Jacinda Ardern registered for both network’s poll as well.
Luxon told both 1News and Newshub that he wasn’t surprised by the surging result for Hipkins as new leaders often get a sizeable bump in the polls.