One giant slip in the PM popularity stakes

National leader Don Brash puts his poor weekend poll rating down to a lack of exposure in the media, and says he has not detected any internal moves to oust him.

Dr Brash polled a disappointing 13 per cent in the latest TV3 poll as preferred Prime Minister - a slip of 5 points from May and well behind Helen Clark's 38 per cent.

The weak rating rekindled speculation that Dr Brash's position as National leader could soon be under threat, particularly if he did not engineer a quick turnaround.

Dr Brash yesterday said that "obviously" he would prefer to be at 40 per cent rather than 13 per cent.

He was "absolutely" passionate about his job as leader and had no intention of stepping aside.

Questioned about the future, Dr Brash said a number of people on National's front bench "would make admirable leaders of the National Party in due course".

"But are they sort of hankering to take over my job? Not that I can detect," he said.

"In fact, the people who most obviously are cited as potential contenders, tell me to my face at least, that yes, they certainly want to be leader in due course - but they certainly don't want to be leader at this point."

National MPs spoken to by the Herald yesterday supported Dr Brash.

Bill English, who has been regularly pointed to as a potential successor, said he supported Dr Brash and had no other comment to make.

John Key, the other man tipped to potentially fill Dr Brash's shoes, could not be reached for comment.

Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee said: "Quite frankly, the TV3 fascination with our leadership is becoming a little bit pathetic."

The National Party is to hold its national conference in a little under two weeks. The event will offer Dr Brash an opportunity to get his face on television and in newspapers - something that has not happened a lot in the past few weeks.

The National leader has appeared to almost slip off the radar screen since a post-Budget media blitz.

Since that blitz Dr Brash has been visiting towns and regional centres, where he said local media covered his trips but national media did not.

"I think to some extent the preferred Prime Minister figure tends to reflect the extent of national media coverage," Dr Brash said.

National believes that the TV3 poll traditionally tends not to favour the party. Dr Brash and several other MPs were also quick to point out that the TV3 poll was vastly different to the outcome of the latest Roy Morgan political poll released last week.

In that poll, National's support was at 45 per cent and Labour's at 37 per cent.

In the TV3 poll, the party ratings were reversed - with Labour at 46 per cent and National at 39 per cent. The One News/Colmar Brunton poll of late May had National on 47 per cent support compared with Labour's 38 per cent.

National has hired Garreth Spillane, former fundraising manager at the Aids Foundation, to help prepare and organise the party leader's media appearances.

The appointment followed a nightmare period where Dr Brash unsteadily walked a plank to get on to a boat, and forgot the contents of an email he had called a press conference to discuss.

National is not scheduled to have a caucus meeting this week because Parliament is in recess.