Clark ranks fourth in top of the pops

A newspaper survey has ranked Prime Minister Helen Clark the fourth most successful leader in the past 100 years, as another opinion poll shows Labour holding a strong lead over National.

The Herald on Sunday asked historians and political scientists to rate Prime Ministers of the last century in an exercise it said was modelled on American and Commonwealth studies.

The top 10 were Richard Seddon, Peter Fraser, Michael Savage, Helen Clark, Keith Holyoake, Norman Kirk, David Lange, Jim Bolger, William Massey and Gordon Coates.

Helen Clark said she considered it a great honour to be ranked alongside Fraser, Seddon and Savage.

"I'm pleased to see that all those ranked highly were centre-left politicians," she said.

A TV3-TNS poll released on Saturday showed Labour holding a 14-point lead over National, continuing a trend of increased Government support.

Labour was on 46 per cent, up one point, and National down one to 32 per cent.

The TV3-TNS poll was the third in three weeks to show Labour well ahead with the next election expected around the middle of next year.

On November 28, a Sunday Star-Times-BRC poll gave Labour 48 per cent, with National down five points to 34 per cent.

On December 1, Labour surged to a 20-point lead in a New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll survey, with 50.1 per cent, against National's 30.4 per cent.

Helen Clark has consistently rated well above National's leader, Don Brash, in the preferred prime minister stakes. In Saturday's TV3-TNS poll she scored 35 per cent and Dr Brash, 16 per cent.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters was favoured by 11 per cent, with no others in contention.

The TV3-TNS poll of 1000 voters had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 per cent.

THREE POLLS

Labour 50.1, National 30.4 (New Zealand Herald-DigiPoll)

Labour 46, National 32 ( TV3-TNS)

Labour 48, National 34 (Sunday Star-Times-BRC)

- NZPA