Covid-fatigued Kiwis are fast falling out of love with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
The latest Roy Morgan opinion poll shows that primary support for Ardern’s Labour Government has fallen sharply:
Meanwhile, support for a potential National/Act NZ coalition government has surged above the Labour Greens coalition, hitting its highest level since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came to power in October 2017:
Interestingly, support is divided on gender lines with females tending support Labour and men supporting the Nationals:
According to Roy Morgan CEO, Michelle Levine, new Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon’s ‘honeymoon’ is continuing with support for National rising 3.5% points to 35% and now up 8.5% points in only two months since Luxon took over at the end of November 2021:
“For the second straight month a potential right-wing National/Act NZ ‘coalition’ government (48.5%) has more support than the current Labour/Greens ‘coalition’ government (43.5%)…
“The rise in support for National amongst men since Luxon came to power, while support for Labour has declined, has substantially widened the gap in favour of the Opposition to 22.5% amongst men. At the same time support for Labour amongst women has softened, although the governing parties still hold an advantage of 11.5% over the Opposition. The ‘gender gap’ is now working in favour of National and Act NZ.
“The big news in the last week has been that New Zealand is finally set to relax its stringent border controls. Fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens in Australia will be able to re-enter the country from the end of February and fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens elsewhere in the world will be able to do the same from mid-March.
“From there New Zealand’s borders will continue to gradually open with borders set to fully re-open to international tourists by later this year in October. It appears the Ardern Government has reacted to the increasing pressure, and decrease in support over recent months, as New Zealanders contemplated the rapidly re-opening global economy.
The next New Zealand election is scheduled for late next year whereby Jacinda Ardern will seek a third term in office. Based on these polling results, it may actually be a tight contest.
