KEY POINTS:
A new poll puts Labour in the lead but holds bad news for its support partner New Zealand First.
Since leader Winston Peters lost Tauranga at the last election, NZ First has become a party of list MPs, meaning it must break the 5 per cent threshold to get seats in Parliament.
Last night's TV3 poll shows it may struggle to do that, as it registered just 1.2 per cent support. TV3 reported this was NZ First's lowest rating in its poll since 2001.
Mr Peters is the foreign minister in the Labour-led Government, a job that takes him overseas a lot.
Prime Minister Helen Clark said this poll rating for NZ First could be a result of his travelling. "I think he's actually a pretty hard-working foreign minister. Maybe the folks at home don't always see that."
National leader John Key told TV3 the poll showed the Government was rapidly falling apart and decaying in its dying hours. "So, exactly who jumps ship first? We'll find out in due course."
In this poll, Labour was steady on 44 per cent support and National was up one to 42 per cent.
The Greens lost two percentage points to claim 6 per cent support.
The Maori Party was on 2.7 per cent, Act was on 1.3 per cent and United Future 0.9 per cent. All have electorate MPs as leaders so will return to Parliament as long as they hold their seats at the next election.
In the preferred prime minister stakes, Helen Clark was up two to 37 per cent support. Mr Key was up four points to 28 per cent. Mr Peters lost a point to be at 4 per cent.
Those polled thought Helen Clark was performing well (up one to 61 per cent) and fewer thought she was doing poorly (down two to 23 per cent). About 54 per cent thought Mr Key was performing well but 17 per cent thought he was doing poorly.
- NZPA
