Labour poll has party ahead in East Coast race for first time in 15 years

National's East Coast candidate Tania Tapsell, (left) and Labour's East Coast candidate Kiri Allan. Photo / File

For the first time in 15 years a Labour-commissioned poll has put its East Coast candidate ahead of the National candidate.

The poll of 831 randomly-selected residents, conducted last week, shows Labour's Kiri Allan sitting at 40.5 per cent and National candidate Tania Tapsell coming a close second at 35 per cent.

The poll also shows Labour leading for the party vote in the East Coast at 50 per cent with National sitting second at 31 per cent.

Allan is "stoked" with the outcome of the poll, attributing it to three-to-four years of hard work in the district, however, Tapsell says it does not reflect what she is hearing on the ground.

Allan said the electorate was pleased and had confidence in how Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had handled the Covid-19 pandemic.

"People can see that we are a stable choice, they trust our leader, and they trust that we can deliver on our plans. They can see that National has a fiscal hole with shambolic leadership."

Allan said she had been doing the hard yards in the East Coast and had delivered during her first term in Parliament and now all she, and the electorate, needed to do was to keep moving forward together.

"We have seen a large amount of investment come into the East Coast during Labour's term. We have a focus on jobs, we have provided free trade and apprenticeship training, our response to Covid-19 was strong and the economy is in the best place it can be."

Allan said the East Coast seat had always been taken for granted by National who see the seat as a "one-trick vote".

However, she said East Coast voters were smart. They have seen her hard work and recognised that it was better to vote for someone who already had a seat in Parliament and a proven track record rather than "some backbencher" trying to find their way into Parliament.

Despite the pleasing poll results, she and her team are not taking anything for granted and will continue to campaign hard.

Meanwhile, Tapsell remains confident in her ability to gain the East Coast seat.

She said Labour was clearly worried and using the poll as a smokescreen to hide its failure to deliver on its election promises.

"It is very difficult to take seriously a push poll paid for by Labour Party activists," she said.

"This tactic is admission that their campaign is falling back as we have seen in the wider national trend."

Tapsell said the poll did not reflect what she was hearing on the ground, which was frustration that Labour was only delivering and spending money on its pet projects.

"We still have a huge housing crisis and methamphetamine issue in the Eastern Bay of Plenty which has got worse under Labour's watch.

"I've had really positive feedback from locals about National's logical economic recovery plan, particularly our plan to cut taxes and make it easier for families."

The poll also reveals that voters are most concerned about the cost of living, the Covid-19 recovery, and jobs and employment.

Poll participants said Jacinda Ardern's performance as leader made them more likely to vote for Allan while Judith Collins' performance as leader made them less likely to vote for Tapsell.