{"id":2627,"date":"2023-01-31T06:18:48","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:18:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=2627"},"modified":"2023-01-31T06:18:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-30T17:18:48","slug":"national-loses-ground-to-hipkins-labour-in-two-new-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=2627","title":{"rendered":"National loses ground to Hipkins’ Labour in two new polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two political polls tonight have Labour regaining lost ground against National, with leader Chris Hipkins more popular than the opposition’s Christopher Luxon.<\/p>\n

However, the strikingly similar results from both would translate to National-ACT having 60 seats in Parliament, Labour-Greens on 58. Te P\u0101ti M\u0101ori would have two seats, and if National-ACT was unable to secure support from them it would mean a hung Parliament.<\/p>\n

30 January – Red level weather warnings (the most severe warnings) are currently in place for Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula. Because of this the National Emergency Management Agency has issued a safety warning that the forecast heavy rain could cause flooding, slips and damage. Scroll down to find the full list of their advice for keeping safe.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Both polls are the first of the year and the first since Chris Hipkins took over as Prime Minister after Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation from the role.<\/p>\n

The 1News Kantar poll had Labour up 5 percentage points to 38, with National down one percentage point to 37.<\/p>\n

On preferred prime minister rankings, Hipkins – who was not even on the board for the previous poll – came out with 23 percent support, just ahead of Luxon’s 22 percent.<\/p>\n

That was even with Ardern still making a showing in the rankings at 5 percent.<\/p>\n

Hipkins had an approval\/disapproval rating of 46\/10 percent, a stronger rating than Ardern achieved in the January and September polls of last year.<\/p>\n

“The ratings indicate, that at this early stage, Chris Hipkins is not yet a polarising figure, in the same way that Jacinda Ardern later became,” Kantar’s analysis said.<\/p>\n

Luxon’s approval\/disapproval rating meanwhile was 43\/34 percent, his lowest approval rating to date.<\/p>\n

Newshub Reid Research’s poll meanwhile had Labour up 5.7 percent to 38 percentage points, ahead of National which lost 4.1 points, dropping to 36.6.<\/p>\n

It also had Hipkins ahead on preferred prime minister stakes, with 19.6 percent support compared to Luxon’s 18.8 percent. Ardern retained 12.4 percent support.<\/p>\n

1News \/ Kantar (25 – 29 January):<\/b><\/p>\n