New Zealand’s ruling coalition leads poll two months ahead of election

New Zealand’s three-party ruling coalition is on course to win a second term in office at a general election due in two months’ time, according to a new opinion poll.



Support for the centre-right National Party, which has endured a tumultuous few weeks involving an unsuccessful leadership challenge against Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, slid 2 percentage points to 29 per cent, the Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll showed on Sept 7.



The coalition’s two smaller parties moved in opposite directions.



The populist New Zealand First fell 0.7 point to 8.4 per cent, while the libertarian ACT Party rose 3.2 points to 10.5 per cent.



Taken together, the three parties would hold 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament, meaning they would be able to form a government.



The poll, which surveyed 1,000 people last week, found the opposition Labour Party fell 1.9 points to 25.9 per cent – its weakest result in more than two years.