Latest political poll points to tight race for National and Labour with right and left blocs even

National leader Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A recent political poll again points to a tight election next year with National and the right bloc neck and neck with Labour and the left.

A commercial poll from Talbot Mills, who also poll for the Labour Party, has National on 38 per cent and Labour on 35 per cent. NZ Herald obtained the poll.

The results, taken between August 31 and September 7, show a slight increase in support for National from the last poll; the party is up one point while Labour drops a point.

Compared to the August poll, Act has dropped one point to 9 per cent and the Greens one point to 8 per cent.

Those results would put National and Act at 47 per cent, pipping Labour and current support partner the Greens on 44 per cent.

Te Pāti Māori registered 3 per cent in support, placing support for the parties left of centre neck and neck with the right.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was still ahead as preferred prime minister, although the gap has closed slightly.

She polled 38 per cent as preferred prime minister, down one point compared to August, while National leader Christopher Luxon remained steady on 26 per cent.

Meanwhile, the right-track wrong-track indicator, which measures whether people, on balance, feel positively or negatively about the country, remained negative.

The August poll reported that statistic was negative for the first time since 2008.

The latest poll had 44 per cent of respondents stating the country was on the right track and 49 per cent believing it was off on the wrong track.

The results come after the Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll, released yesterday, had National and Act able to form a government.

National was up three points on last month's poll to 37 per cent and Act up one point to 12 per cent.

National's rise coincided with a record number of people saying the country was heading in the wrong direction.

Fifty-four per cent of people say the country is heading in the wrong direction, but just 32 per cent of people thought it was heading in the right direction.

The rise in support came amid declines in Labour's polling. It fell two points between August and September to 33 per cent, while the Greens stayed static at 10 per cent.