Fifty-four per cent of voters think Chris Hipkins should remain as Labour leader, according to the latest 1News Verian poll.
The future of the former PM, who served in the top job for nine months, has been the subject of speculation as the opposition party looks to rebuild following its defeat at last year’s election.
In the poll, around half the respondents were asked: “Do you think Chris Hipkins should now remain as the leader of the Labour Party or step down?”
The poll asked if Hipkins should remain leader of the Labour Party, with 54% saying yes he should, while 26% disagreed. (Source: 1News)
Just over one in four – 26% – thought the former senior minister should step down while 20% of respondents said they didn’t know or preferred not to say.
When asked by 1News, Hipkins said he wasn’t worried about being rolled as the leader.
“I certainly have the support of my team. Our goal over the next two years is to rebuild our support. If you were to take a look at the polls three years ago, you wouldn’t have picked a National-led government following the last election, would you?”
Labour Party supporters were overwhelmingly more likely to suggest Hipkins should remain the party’s leader with 75% in support.
Those groups of eligible voters who are more likely than average (26%) to think he should step down include ACT Party supporters (43%) and National Party supporters (35%).
Labour MPs asked about a possible leadership change were adamant that Hipkins was in it for the long haul. Political opponents were also supportive – albeit in a different way.
ACT leader David Seymour laughed when asked about Hipkins, while New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said he was doing a “fantastic job”.
“He’s doing a fantastic job as opposition leader … every time he opens his mouth they go down in the polls,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
1News Verian polls over the past year show Labour’s party vote share has remained stable with Hipkins as opposition leader, slightly higher than their election night performance.
Senior National minister Simeon Brown also had thoughts on the Labour leader.
“Other than the odd tweet, he’s missing in action,” he said.
Despite speculation about potential leadership changes, Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, often tipped as a future leader, again firmly denied any ambitions for the top job
When asked if he would consider the role if offered, McAnulty repeatedly said “no”.
As revealed yesterday, both Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Hipkins dropped 3% in the preferred prime minister stakes, to 25% and 15% respectively.
Between October 5 and 9, 2024, 1000 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (500) and online, using online panels (500). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. Party support percentages have been rounded up or down to whole numbers, except those less than 4.5%, which are reported to one decimal place. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, ethnic identification and education level. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel. Undecided voters, non-voters and those who refused to answer are excluded from the data on party support. The results are a snapshot in time of party support, and not a prediction.
