National jumps to 31pc after Brash speech

National's popularity has jumped five points to 31 per cent in a reputable poll conducted after the controversial speech last week by leader Don Brash, but Labour has barely been dented.

Labour is down one point to 43 per cent in the Phillips Fox poll, published in today's National Business Review.

The Greens are up two points to 8 per cent.

National's advance is at the expense of other parties on the centre-right, particularly New Zealand First which is down three points from the NBR's December poll.

Its leader, Winston Peters, was embroiled in allegations over the scampi inquiry the week before the poll was held.

Act is down from 3.8 per cent to 3.4 per cent, and United Future is down from 4.1 to 2.5 per cent. Jim Anderton's Progressive Party is less than 1 per cent.

Dr Brash's state-of-the-nation speech last week condemned what he described as a "dangerous drift towards racial separatism" and was timed in an attempt to give the party a lift in the first polls of the year.

It is the second big lift the party has got since Dr Brash took the leadership from Bill English in October.

The party's polling jumped from 23 per cent to 29 per cent in the month following the Brash coup then fell to 26 per cent before Christmas, following the rapid departure of deputy Nick Smith and rows over the leadership vote.

The poll was conducted by UMR Research from Thursday, January 29, to Sunday, February 1, from a sample of 750 and contains a margin of error of 3.6 per cent.