WELLINGTON, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) — New Zealand’s governing National Party has fallen below 26 percent in a new opinion poll, while the minor opposition Green Party has surged to its strongest showing this parliamentary term ahead of next month’s election.
The RNZ-Reid Research poll released Tuesday showed National’s support fell to 25.9 percent, down 3.2 percentage points from August and its weakest result since the 2020 election.
The opposition Labor Party also lost ground, falling 1.4 points to 30.8 percent, while the Green Party jumped 4.6 points to 14.8 percent, according to the poll.
National’s coalition partners, New Zealand First and ACT, moved in opposite directions, with New Zealand First losing ground and ACT gaining support, the poll showed.
The Opportunity Party rose to 5.5 percent, again putting it in a potential kingmaker position just above the 5-percent threshold for parliamentary representation, showed the poll which surveyed 1,000 eligible voters online between Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. ■