Loto Luxon takes National to the lead, in as head to head PM figure, there is only one % difference

National takes the lead in new 1News poll National has come out on top in a new 1News Kantar Public Poll, narrowly ahead of Labour in the first poll since the 23-day parliament occupation and the violent scenes that ended it. It’s the first time National has been ahead of Labour since February 2020. The party was up seven percentage points to 39%, coming in two ahead of Labour, which returned the lowest results it has since taking office, down three to 37%. Labour leader and current PM Jacinda Ardern retained the top spot in the preferred prime minister stakes, dropping one point to 34%. But National leader Christopher Luxon rose eight points to 25%. Among the smaller parties, the Greens remained steady on 9%, with Act down three to 8%. The Māori Party garnered 2% of the vote, as did New Zealand First, with TOP and the New Conservatives on 1% a piece. For preferred prime minister, NZ First’s Winston Peters, who walked around the parliament protest, meeting with those involved, was up one to 2%, and Act leader David Seymour was down one to 5%. 1News political editor Jessica Mutch McKay reveals the numbers As Stewart Sowman-Lund wrote this morning, this is not only the first TV poll since the parliament occupation, it’s the first since the Ukraine invasion, since petrol prices skyrocketed, since the opposition coined the phrase “cost of living crisis”, and since the omicron outbreak fully took hold in the community and case numbers surged. The last TVNZ poll, in January, had Labour down one point to 40% with National jumping up four points to 32% (largely at the expense of Act). Since then, the Roy Morgan poll has had National above Labour, with the most recent results being 38% to 32%. This evening’s poll results reflected in parliament seat entitlement would see National with 49, Labour with 47, Greens with 11, Act on 10 and Te Pāti Māori with three seats (assuming Rawiri Waititi holds the seat of Waiariki), reported 1News. That would mean, should National and Act come together on 59, and Labour and Green Party come together with 58, Te Pāti Māori’s three seats would hold the balance of power. If the results were to be reflected at the election, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi told 1News the party they chose would have to “ensure they align with our policies and our values. Unfortunately in the past, National have not in the last leadership with Judith Collins.” By Alice Neville Deputy editor