Winston Peters of New Zealand First is a distant third with one per cent.

Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Nov. 3, Key renewed calls for a change in government, saying, "In the last nine years record numbers of New Zealanders have been leaving, in the last nine years productivity has been halving, in the last nine years a wage gap with Australia has been widening. We have got to have a single focus on growth."

Clark responded to Key, stating, "We face an unprecedented financial crisis in the lifetimes of any of us. What I believe is that we need proven strong leadership and I’ve got a track record of that."

The legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Who would you prefer as prime minister?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 New Zealand voters, conducted from Nov. 1 to Nov. 5, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

The Greens are third with eight per cent, followed by the Maori Party and New Zealand First both with three per cent, and ACT with two per cent. Support for National fell by three points since mid-October, while backing for Labour dropped by one point.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Oct. 31, Key discussed the race, saying, "I hope to be the next National prime minister of New Zealand. I am simply pointing out that New Zealanders are going to face some genuine circumstances potentially over the next couple of years where they may lose their job (and) they’ve got quite high expenses."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Thinking about the Party Vote, which is for a political party, which political party would you vote for?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 New Zealand voters, conducted from Oct. 18 to Oct. 23, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

The Greens are third with 5.4 per cent, followed by the Maori Party with 2.4 per cent, and New Zealand First with 2.1 per cent. Support for National fell by one point since September, while backing for Labour increased by 1.3 points.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Oct. 30, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters criticized the way the media has covered the campaign, saying, "The truth of the matter is that there are forces at play in New Zealand who will do anything to take New Zealand First and Winston Peters out. They are not interested in the facts. They are not interested in balance. They are not interested in what is best for ordinary New Zealanders."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

If an election were held today, which party would you vote for?

Source: DigiPoll / New Zealand Herald
Methodology: Interviews to 750 New Zealand eligible voters, conducted in Oct. 15 to Oct. 22, 2008. Margin of error is 3.7 per cent.

The governing Labour party is second with 36 per cent, followed by the Greens with five per cent, and the Maori Party, New Zealand First and ACT all with two per cent.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

Yesterday, transport minister Annette King criticized Key, saying, "Today he has claimed that it has always been National party policy to toll a road only if there is a viable free alternative road for the public to travel on. Yet this is the same member who voted against the legislation brought in by Labour which required a free alternative road to be available."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Thinking about the Party Vote, which is for a political party, which political party would you vote for?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,003 New Zealand voters, conducted from Oct. 11 to Oct. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

Incumbent Helen Clark—leader of the Labour party—is second with 34 per cent, followed by Winston Peters of New Zealand First (NZF) with two per cent.

Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

Yesterday, Key criticized the current government’s economic policies, saying, "I don’t think Helen Clark has had any conversations with the banks as far I understand it in the last week or so. I don’t know whether she understands this stuff very well, but there is no indication she does."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Who would you prefer as prime minister?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,003 New Zealand voters, conducted from Oct. 11 to Oct. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

The governing Labour is second with 33 per cent, followed by the Greens with eight per cent, the Maori Party with 2.8 per cent, New Zealand First with 2.6 per cent, ACT with 1.6 per cent, the Progressives with 0.3 per cent, and United Future with 0.1 per cent.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

New Zealand voters backed the mixed-member proportional voting system in a 1993 binding referendum. The rationale allocates 65 seats in the House of Representatives as first-past-the-post, and 55 seats through proportional representation party lists. Since 2002, seven seats must be filled by Maori representatives.

On Oct. 17, United Future leader Peter Dunne questioned the current system, saying, "The continued existence of the Maori seats has long since gone past the bumper sticker slogans of race-based representation by opponents of the seats, or preserving the special place of Maori in the electoral system by supporters of the seats. It is now an issue about totally distorting MMP and potentially perverting the will of the voters."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Thinking about the Party Vote, which is for a political party, which political party would you vote for?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 New Zealand voters, conducted from Oct. 4 to Oct. 9, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

The Greens are third with 6.7 per cent, followed by New Zealand First with 2.7 per cent, and the Maori Party with 2.5 per cent, ACT with 1.8 per cent, and United Future and the Progressives with 0.1 per cent each.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Oct. 17, Clark discussed her party’s chances, saying, "There’s no doubt that Labour has the momentum. I feel that what is happening in the wider world has reshaped our campaign. It seems to me that the international economic crisis has turned the campaign on its head."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

If a general election was held yesterday under MMP, which political party would you have voted for with your party vote? That is, for the political party you most want to be represented in parliament.

Source: TNS / TV3
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 New Zealand voters, conducted in early October 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

The Greens are third with nine per cent, followed by New Zealand First with four per cent, ACT with 3.5 per cent, the Maori Party with two per cent, United Future with one per cent, and the Progressives also with one per cent. Support for Labour increased by one point since mid-September, while backing for National fell by seven points.

Labour leader Helen Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Oct. 11, Clark discussed her views on the current global economic crisis, saying, "Our government has agreed to implement a deposit guarantee scheme which will provide New Zealand depositors with additional confidence. (…) If necessary Labour will bring forward infrastructure spending in areas like road and rail construction projects, local government sewerage treatment projects, school property investment and back country catchments and afforestation."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

If an election were held today which party would receive your party vote?

Source: Roy Morgan International
Methodology: Interviews with 923 New Zealand voters, conducted from Sept. 22 to Oct. 5, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Incumbent Helen Clark—leader of the Labour party—is second with 31 per cent, followed by Winston Peters of New Zealand First (NZF) with three per cent.

Clark has acted as New Zealand’s prime minister since December 1999. In November 2006, Don Brash—who had served as National’s leader since October 2003—announced his resignation and was substituted by finance spokesman John Key.

In the September 2005 ballot, Labour elected 50 lawmakers to the 121-seat House of Representatives, and assembled a coalition government with the Progressives. United Future and New Zealand First agreed to support the administration in confidence and supply votes for three years. National finished second, with 48 legislators.

On Oct. 9, Manufacturers and Exporters Association chief executive John Walley disagreed with a proposal by Key to scrap tax credits for companies investing in research and development to pay for personal tax cuts. Walley declared: "New Zealand was once at the bottom of the OECD [Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development] in terms of policy support for R&D spending, this change will put us back in last place. At a time when other countries such as Australia are about to increase their support for innovation, New Zealand firms will once again be at a competitive disadvantage in this respect."

The next legislative election will take place on Nov. 8.

Polling Data

Who would you prefer as prime minister?

Source: Colmar Brunton / One News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,010 New Zealand voters, conducted from Sept. 27 to Oct. 2, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.