Support for National has dropped 5.2 points to 32.9 percent in the new RNZ-Reid Research poll. Photo: RNZ
The National Party is unconcerned the gap between the right and left blocs has tightened since the election, off the back of a fresh political poll.
The new RNZ-Reid Research poll shows support for National has dropped 5.2 points to 32.9 per cent, while support for Labour rose 5.4 per cent to 32.3 per cent.
The major parties may be neck in neck, but small bumps in support for National's coalition partners mean the right bloc still has the numbers to govern.
The ACT Party was up 0.76 points to 9.4 per cent, while New Zealand First was up 1.12 points to 7.2 per cent.
If replicated in a general election, the result would return National, ACT and NZ First to power with 62 seats out of 120, down from their existing 67 of 123.
Asked about these results, National's leader Christopher Luxon said he was not focused on polls.
"There's lots of different polls, frankly, and I'm frankly not focused on polls I'm really focused on getting things done and delivering for New Zealand and as I keep saying that means rebuilding the economy, restoring law and order and delivering for health and education."
The coalition has moved fast since the election - cutting public spending, serving up a new school lunch programme and passing the contentious Treaty Principles Bill through its first reading.
Opposition parties have had no shortage of policies to criticise but this has not budged the numbers for the left bloc.
Support for Labour is up 5.4 points to 32.3 per cent since the election while the Greens are down 1.6 points to 10 per cent and Te Pāti Māori is up 1.92 points to 5 per cent.
It adds up to 58 seats - not enough for the left bloc to govern - though Labour leader Chris Hipkins was still pleased with the result.
"We're actually a bit further ahead than I'd perhaps expected to be...we knew that it was going to be a slow, steady process of rebuilding our support from the last election so the fact that we're pretty much neck and neck now with the government I think is a good sign but we've got more work to do."
New Zealand First did not respond to RNZ's request for comment.
ACT leader David Seymour said the small bump for his party just encourages it to work harder, believing the cost of living is still front and centre of many voters' minds.
"I think to a large extent people are voting on the economy, which remains tough but the coalition government's job is to ensure that we are re-elected because people see our efforts to turn the economy round are ultimately successful."
Off the back of a small dip in support, Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said her focus was on people, particularly those who were struggling, rather than poll results.
"We can change this, we can change these political choices, and the greens are there to support and to help mobilise that power from the very communities that we are hearing from."
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the small bump for her party showed it was growing stronger.
"While this is one poll we, as Te Pāti Māori, have trended up and stable the whole time I think we must be sixteen months in and we're polling steadily and steadily increasing."
This poll of 1000 people was conducted by Reid Research, using quota sampling and weighting to ensure representative cross section by age, gender and geography. The poll was conducted through online interviews between 21-27 March 2025 and has a maximum margin of error of +/- 3.1% at a 95% confidence level. The report is available here.
