Te Pāti Māori could decide the next government, a new political poll suggests.
The Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll released today, shows neither Labour nor National can form a government on their own, an NZ Herald report says.
Neither can the combined centre-left nor centre-right blocks govern on their own - a notable change for National and Act.
“For the first time since August 2022, the centre-right cannot form a government on its own and neither bloc has a majority,” the Taxpayers’ Union said.
“This means that the Māori Party holds the balance of power."
Labour on 36.9 per cent holds a marginal lead over National's 36.5 per cent in this latest poll, according to the NZ Herald. Both parties are up on last month - Labour by 1.4 points and National 1.7.
The Greens rose 1 point to 6.7 per cent and Act is up 0.2 points to 9.5 per cent.
This translates to a combined total for the centre-right of 59 seats (National 47 seats, Act 12) - down two on last month - ahead of the centre-left's projected 57 seats (Labour 48 seats, Greens 9), which remains unchanged, the NZ Herald says.
Te Pāti Māori rose 1.5 points to 2.9 per cent (4 projected seats).
The poll was conducted from Sunday, April 2 to Wednesday, April 5.
The sample size was 1000 eligible New Zealand voters: 800 by phone and 200 by online panel.