(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - New Zealand’s official opposition party has lost public backing this month but continues to lead all of its rivals, according to a poll by Colmar Brunton released by One News. 52 per cent of respondents would vote for the National party in the next election to the House of Representatives, down three points since June.

The governing Labour party is second with 35 per cent—up six points in a month—followed by the Greens with six per cent, New Zealand First with 2.4 per cent, the Maori Party with 1.7 per cent, and ACT with 1.2 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. 23, Lockwood Smith—National’s immigration spokesman—called on his party to create an Immigration Ministry if it forms the next government, saying, "A new management culture is required, and I question whether that can be achieved while the immigration service is just a section of the Department of Labour."

Smith also said National would work to attract migrants back into New Zealand, stating, "More than 80,000 New Zealanders headed overseas permanently in the last 12 months—the second highest ever. The loss to Australia was the highest on record. An estimated 800,000 Kiwis live abroad and it’s been reckoned that we lose 32 per cent of our tertiary-trained workforce."

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

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 Jul. 12 to Jul. 17, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

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