Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party falls in New Zealand poll
Support for New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party has fallen to its lowest level since Jacinda Ardern became leader in 2017, a poll shows.
Support for New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party has fallen to its lowest level since Jacinda Ardern became leader in 2017, a poll shows.
The Newshub-Reid Research survey showed that support for the party led by the Prime Minister was at 32.3 per cent, down 5.9 points since the last poll in May, amid surging support for the centre-right opposition National Party, at 40.7 per cent.
On those figures, Labour would lose about 25 seats in the 120-seat parliament at the election, which is due late next year. It won 65 seats at the 2020 election.
The poll reflects growing alarm within Labour, which had a subdued annual conference at the weekend as cost-of-living pressures, severe worker shortages, rising crime and lack of housing threatened to overwhelm the government.
After saying on Monday that she took every poll with “a grain of salt”, Ms Ardern later used a press conference to attack the profits of the country’s largest banks, most of which are controlled from Australia, a source of consternation for many New Zealanders. She said questions should be asked about whether those making huge profits were serving New Zealanders well.
Over the past year, house prices have fallen 11 per cent, with declines of 15 per cent in Auckland and 18 per cent in Wellington. Interest rates have been rising as the central bank fights to curb inflation, which reached a 30-year high in July. Borrowers are finding themselves at risk of negative equity.
However, Ms Ardern, 42, can point to higher wages for the less well-off and near-record low unemployment of 3.3 per cent.
She was elected Prime Minister in 2017 after forming a coalition with the populist New Zealand First party before leading Labour to outright victory in 2020.
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