Roll up sleeves, National Party told, it’s not lost yet

National is urging its members to set aside their frustration and roll up their sleeves, claiming the party is within striking distance of an election win.

Buoying its confidence is last night's TV One Colmar Brunton poll giving it a three-point increase to 38 and reducing the gap between it and Labour to seven points.

Leader Don Brash improved his ratings in the preferred prime minister stakes. He reached 20 while Helen Clark remained steady on 40, another fillip.

National MP and party board member Phil Heatley had over the weekend told members at the party's northern regional conference it was critical National broke through the "35 per cent ceiling" it has hovered around.

In an apparent concession, he said National strategists believed the party would win only if Labour stumbled badly.

He said the party would lose the ability to "cut through" if it wasn't prepared when another John Tamihere-type Government saga occurred.

"New Zealanders will turn away from Labour for a week, 10 days maximum."

He urged members not to get frustrated, saying MPs "feel the same way you do, but we need to be ready when the opportunity comes".

Campaign strategist Murray McCully said National was up against "formidable adversaries".

But it was "in striking zone" and middle New Zealand was "waiting to hear from us".

Speeches were saturated with the "middle New Zealand" pitch with president Judy Kirk stressing the party's policies were "sound and sensible, they are not extremist".

She is embarking on a volunteer recruitment drive, aimed at preventing Labour winning a third election in a row, which she said it had not done for 60 years.

Dr Brash meanwhile is set to take on new staff to try to improve his media campaign strategy.

He is understood to have been deeply disappointed by media coverage of the party's polices in recent weeks, partly the result of a string of bad luck.

The party's roading policy was overshadowed by news of the Pope's imminent death.

It is understood he will appoint a senior private secretary to help take the load off his chief of staff, Richard Long, and possibly other staff.