19 Oct 2009

Labour distant second in latest poll

7:06 am on 19 October 2009

Labour leader Phil Goff says his party will be "sticking to its guns" - despite the latest opinion poll showing it trailing National by more than 30 percentage points.

The 3-News Reid Research poll puts National at 59.9% and Labour a distant second on 27.2%.

The Green Party attracted 6.9% support, the Maori Party 2.4%, ACT 1.7%, and New Zealand First 1%.

National's dominance is also reflected in the preferred Prime Minister stakes. John Key was favoured by 55.8% of those polled, while the Labour leader Phil Goff registered just 4.7%.

Mr Goff says it is a difficult situation for Labour, as the Government enjoys its honeymoon with voters, but over time some of the gloss always wears off the Government.

Mr Goff says he's optimistic that Labour can improve on the current poll figures.

The poll has a margin for error of just over three percentage points.