(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More people in New Zealand are siding with the opposition National party before this year’s legislative ballot, according to a poll by DigiPoll published in the New Zealand Herald. 54.9 per cent of respondents would vote for the conservative party in the next election to the House of Representatives, up 3.4 points since May.

The governing Labour party is second with 32.4 per cent—down 3.8 points in a month—followed by the Greens with 5.9 per cent, New Zealand First with 3.3 per cent, and the Maori Party with 1.8 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.

On Jul. 2, Key denied a newspaper report which asserted that National would privatize the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) if it forms the government, but admitted that the party does "have an intention of increasing competition and choice," adding, "We won’t be expanding that or doing that unless we can deliver safer workplaces at a lower cost to New Zealand consumers."

The next election is expected to take place in September 2008.

Polling Data

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

Source: DigiPoll / New Zealand Herald
Methodology: Interviews to 1,210 New Zealand eligible voters, conducted from Jun. 6 to Jun. 25, 2008. Margin of error is 2.8 per cent.

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