For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Jacinda Ardern-led Labour party has slipped from being New Zealands most popular and been overtaken by the right.<\/p>\n
A new TVNZ\/Kantar Public poll found the centre-right National party had surged by seven points to 39%, compared with Labours 37% making it Labours lowest result in the poll since it was elected in 2017.<\/p>\n
The result follows a turbulent month in New Zealand, with Covid cases spiking, violent protests outside parliament and steeply rising living costs. The country has been dealing with widespread Covid-19 for the first time in the pandemic, recording more than 20,000 cases a day and 773 people in hospital.<\/p>\n
Polling was conducted in the days when police broke up a weeks-long anti-vaccine-mandate occupation of parliament grounds. The protest descended into scenes without recent precedent in New Zealand: protesters lit large fires around parliament, allegedly attempted to burn down the local law school, and hurled chairs, bricks, tables and bottles at police. Forty police officers were injured.<\/p>\n
The country is also reckoning with rising cost of living: the annual inflation rate is now at 5.9% and ASB economists have forecast it may hit 7% in the first half of the year. Already-rising petrol prices have spiked amid Russias war on Ukraine, with the price at many petrol stations hitting $3 a litre. According to the poll, economic optimism in New Zealand was slipping: 28% were optimistic about the economy and 53% pessimistic.<\/p>\n
Current polling would place traditional left and right coalition partnerships neck and neck: if National combined with the libertarian Act party, they would hold 59 seats, compared with the left Labour-Greens bloc of 58. The balance of power would fall to the Mori party, which holds three seats and has previously formed coalitions with both Labour and National.<\/p>\n
In the preferred prime minister stakes, Ardern still held an edge: polling at 34% against the relative newcomer National leader Christopher Luxons 25%. But that result still marked a significant drop for Ardern, down from 58% at the close of 2020. Luxon, meanwhile, has climbed from 17% in January the first Kantar poll after he took the partys leadership in November. When participants were asked to choose directly between the two, there was only one point between them: 46% chose Ardern and 45% Luxon.<\/p>\n
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Arderns Labour party slips to second in New Zealand polling for first time since pandemic began - The Guardian<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Jacinda Ardern-led Labour party has slipped from being New Zealands most popular and been overtaken by the right. A new TVNZ\/Kantar Public poll found the centre-right National party had surged by seven points to 39%, compared with Labours 37% making it Labours lowest result in the poll since it was elected in 2017. The result follows a turbulent month in New Zealand, with Covid cases spiking, violent protests outside parliament and steeply rising living costs Continue reading