However, more New Zealanders think the government is increasing racial tensions, than decreasing them.
The numbers for the governing parties remained unchanged, with only minor shifts for the opposition compared to the previous poll - Labour and Te Pāti Māori gaining 1 percentage point each while the Greens dropped 2 points.
- National: 38 percent, steady (49 seats)
- Labour: 30 percent, up 1 (38 seats)
- Greens: 11 percent, down 2 (14 seats)
- Act: 7 percent, steady (8 seats)
- NZ First: 6 percent, steady (7 seats)
- Te Pāti Māori: 4 percent, up 1 (6 seats)
Of parties not in Parliament, TOP was down 1 point to 1 percent, while New Zeal was up 1 point to 1 percent. About 11 percent of respondents said they did not know who they would vote for, or refused to say.
Perhaps the most notable change from the poll was Christopher Luxon's rise in the preferred prime minister rankings, up 5 percentage points to 28 percent. Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick and NZ First leader Winston Peters also saw small increases.
Preferred prime minister:
- Christopher Luxon: 28 percent - up 5 points
- Chris Hipkins: 18 percent - steady
- Chlöe Swarbrick: 7 percent, up 1
- Winston Peters: 5 percent, up 1
- David Seymour: 4 percent, steady
Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke: 1 percent
- However, a separate question asked if the coalition government's policies were reducing racial tensions in New Zealand.
Racial tensions:
- Reducing racial tensions: 10 percent
- Increasing racial tensions: 46 percent
- Making no real difference to racial tensions: 37 percent
About 7 percent of respondents did not know, or refused to answer this question.
The poll surveyed 1001 eligible voters and was weighted for demographics, with a margin of error of 3.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval. It was conducted between August 10 and 14.
Polls compare to the most recent poll by the same polling company, as different polls can use different methodologies. They are intended to track trends in voting preferences, showing a snapshot in time, rather than be a completely accurate predictor of a final election result.
