New Zealand National support at weakest level since 2020, poll finds


FILE PHOTO: New Zealand's Prime Minister and Leader of the National Party, Christopher Luxon, speaks at the New Zealand National Party's election campaign launch in Auckland, New Zealand, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/David Rowland/File Photo

WELLINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - ⁠New Zealand's ruling National Party has fallen to ⁠25.9% support, its weakest result since the 2020 ‌election, while the opposition Greens climbed to 14.8%, an RNZ-Reid Research poll showed on Tuesday, adding pressure on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon a ​month before the general election.

Labour also ⁠slipped to 30.8%, while ⁠the smaller Opportunity Party polled 5.5%, just above the ⁠threshold ‌needed to enter parliament without winning an electorate seat.

• If the poll results are repeated ⁠on the November 7 election day, the result ​would leave ‌neither Luxon's National-led bloc nor a Labour-Greens-Te Pati Maori ⁠grouping with ​a majority in the 120-seat parliament, potentially giving Opportunity a pivotal role in coalition talks.

• Luxon has previously said ⁠that his National Party was unlikely ​to work with Opportunity because of its tax policies.

• New Zealand's electoral system favours coalitions, with the result still too ⁠close to call. The poll by 1NewsVerian released last week suggested that Labour, the Greens, TePati Maori and the Opportunity Party could govern in a left-leaning coalition ​with 65 seats, against 59 for ⁠National, ACT and NZ First.

• The online poll of ​1,000 eligible voters was conducted from ‌September 24 to October1 and ​had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Mark Porter)

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