Labour 'not fazed' by dismal poll result

TRACY WATKINS

It shows Labour is facing its worst election result in 15 years - but deputy leader Annette King says ''bugger the polls".

A new Fairfax Media-Research International poll  - the first poll since Labour released details of its capital gains tax on investment properties  - has the party on 29 per cent.

Just six per cent of voters preferred leader Phil Goff as Prime Minister.

King dismissed the poll today by quoting former Prime Minister Jim Bolger, who said ''bugger the pollsters'' on election night in 1993, when his government narrowly avoided defeat.

''It's another poll but it's not what we are finding on the ground. What people say to us isn't reflected in the poll.

''And I suppose I couldn't do any better than to quote Jim Bolger and say 'Bugger the polls.''

She said the dismal result wasn't affecting  the party's mood.

''Morale is incredibly good and has been since we started releasing major policy. We've worked hard on policy [and] we've got a lot more to release.

''That action has really got the caucus fired up and our membership and supporters.

She said people haven't had time to absorb the details of the tax package.

''It takes more than a couple of three weeks before it actually gets out to the publicI really do think that people start to concentrate on what parties have to offer much closer to the election.''

And she added: ''I notice that this poll was compared to 1996 when they said we got our worst ever result. Helen Clarkwent on to get to 28.1 per cent and we almost formed the government.''

Before the election the party was polling 15 per cent and Helen Clark two per cent as preferred prime minister, she said.

ACT leader Don Brash said he didn't ''pay too much attention'' to polls.

''Those numbers are fluctuating within quite a narrow range. I don't take to much notice of them, quite frankly.  Sometime we're a little bit up, sometimes we are down.''

He aims to net 15 per cent. ''There's a long way to go, undoubtedly. And we haven't really started campaigning yet.''

The result for Labour was ''disappointing'' for Labour, he said. '''They've had a lot of media coverage lately so they'll be disappointed by that.''

NATIONAL COULD GOVERN ALONE

Time is running out for Labour and Phil Goff 17 weeks out from the election as a new Fairfax Media-Research International Poll shows the party staring down the barrel at its worst result in 15 years.

National continues its extraordinary run of popularity in today's poll, recording 56 per cent support – enough to comfortably govern alone if the results were repeated on election night in November.

Labour is on 29 per cent support – within a whisker of its worst result under MMP in 1996, when it won just 28.19 per cent of the vote.

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The results will be a blow to Labour, which was pinning its hopes on a proposal for a capital gains tax on investment properties proving a game-changer in the election campaign. But on today's poll – the first since Labour released the details of its tax package – it appears to have had no impact or may even have weakened the party's support.

On those figures, Labour would lose five of its sitting MPs, including three of its rising stars, Stuart Nash, Kelvin Davis and Carmel Sepuloni.

The damage would be worse if it were not for five Labour MPs retiring at the next election.

Translated into seats in Parliament, National would have a monster voting bloc of 71 MPs.

The Greens have the third biggest share of votes on 6 per cent, while ACT and NZ First are level pegging on 2 per cent each.

UnitedFuture, Hone Harawira's Mana Party and the Maori Party are all registering 1 per cent support or less.

The poll was taken while Prime Minister John Key was in the headlines during a trip to the United States for a meeting with President Barack Obama.

It shows that Mr Key remains hugely popular with voters, recording 53 per cent support as preferred prime minister over just 6 per cent who prefer Mr Goff.

Labour is taking the results on the chin. Mr Goff was unwell last night, but a spokesman said it was clear that Labour needed to "get out and sell our alternative vision" of keeping the country's assets and making everyone pay their fair share of tax.

But of big concern to Labour is the party's continuing failure to woo back female voters who have deserted Labour for National under Mr Key.

With Helen Clark as Labour leader, female voters were the party's secret weapon but National now polls as strongly among female voters as it does among males.

Mr Key, who is holidaying in Hawaii, said it was a good result for the Government, "considering the challenges we face".

Typically the polls narrowed as the election got closer, so National was not taking anything for granted.

On the preferred prime minister ratings, Mr Key said he thought people accepted that he would not get every decision right but that he tried do his job "as best as I possibly can".

The Fairfax Media-Research International poll was conducted between July 21 and July 25 and surveyed 1004 eligible voters. It has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.