6 Apr 2009

National holds commanding lead over Labour

6:45 am on 6 April 2009

The National Party and its leader John Key continue to hold commanding leads over the Labour Party in the latest opinion poll.

The One News- Colmar Brunton poll released on Sunday night puts National 26 percentage points clear of Labour.

At 57%, National's rating is almost double that of Labour on 31%.

Its dominance is also reflected in the preferred prime minister stakes, with Mr Key picked by slightly more than half of those polled.

Labour leader Phil Goff rates just 6% - and still trails former prime minister Helen Clark, who is on 9%.

Just one of the minor parties - the Greens - polled above the 5% threshold needed to make it in to Parliament without an electorate seat, recording 7%, while the Maori Party scored 2.2% and ACT 1.6%.

New Zealand First had plummeted from 4.1% at the November election to just 1.1%. Two parties with one MP apiece, the Progressives and United Future, were both on less than 1%.

The poll of 1,000 eligible voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.