Offbeat question: Clark preferred option to run business says poll

Richard Prebble wants to be seen as a man of the business people with policies of cutting tax and promoting investment growth.

He may therefore be shocked to learn that few people believe he has any business acumen of his own.

In a special Herald DigiPoll survey 801 people were asked which party leader they would pick to manage their company if they had to.

Only 55 people - or 6.9 per cent - chose Prebble, a sad and sorry comparison to the top-rating Helen Clark who pulled 40 per cent of the vote.

He even rated lower the "none of them" and "don't know" options, which respectively pulled 9.4 and 7.9 per cent.

Former opposition finance spokesman Bill English polled as the second most trustworthy person to manage a company, on 19.5 per cent.

Winston Peters followed closely behind with 114 supporters slotting him in at 14.3 per cent.

Collectively Greens leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald scraped up 2 per cent of approval - that's 1.3 for her and 0.7 for him - but then again, you can't run a business on fresh air and morris dancing.

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