'I'm consistently sceptical of polls' - PM brushes off Labour's best approval rating in 15 years

February 20, 2018

Jacinda Ardern insists it’s “still early days” as Labour jumps nine points to 48 per cent approval.

It was Labour's best poll result since 2003, but Jacinda Ardern was above all "sceptical" of yesterday's 48 per cent approval rating that has her party leading National.

The latest 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll had Labour up nine points on its December poll result, its highest level in 15 years.

National slipped three points since December to sit at 43 per cent.

However, Jacinda Ardern was keen to stress that she was skeptical of the good and bad polls.

"I'm consistently skeptical of polls so, look, I would take this as a sign of hopefully people building a bit of confidence in our government but also it is early days for us so I am certainly aware that we still need to bed that in yet," she said.

Labour's rise was partially at the expense of their coalition partners, with Greens down two points to five per cent, and NZ First down two points, to three per cent approval.

The PM denied this shift would affect Labour's relationship with their coalition partners. 

"I take this as indicative of support for the coalition as a whole because what we tend to see as a trend post election is numbers do tend to congregate around the two major parties so this isn't unusual."

In the preferred Prime Minister stakes from the 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll, Jacinda Ardern has climbed another four points to 41 per cent.

That gives her a big lead over Bill English who slipped eight points to 20 per cent.

Winston Peters is down one per cent to four per cent.  

SHARE ME

More Stories