WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND) – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand is expected to be one seat short of being able to rule alone, an opinion poll showed on Thursday. With just over a week left for the election, the poll revealed her party has a double-digit lead over its rival.
The much-awaited 1News-Colmar Brunton poll showed that the prime minister’s Labour party has the support of 47% of respondents and it has remained unchanged from the poll conducted on Sept. 28.
This means the ruling party would have 60 seats in parliament, leaving it one seat short of forming a government on its own. The Labour Party is highlighting its record of bringing the pandemic under control during the campaigning.
Its coalition partner Green Party has its support at 6%, giving it eight seats in the chamber.
Voting will take place on Oct. 17 and advance voting already got underway on Saturday.
The poll showed that the opposition National Party got 32% support and it failed to bridge a 15 percentage point gap between the parties although conservative leader Judith Collins claimed she won two live debates with Ardern.