National remains almost bullet-proof as it steams its way towards the forthcoming election.
Its support dipped after this month's Budget, according to a new poll - but only just.
Despite changes to KiwiSaver and Working For Families, a One News-Colmar Brunton Poll released last night put support for National at 52 per cent,
down from 54 per cent last month.
National has been strong since coming to power in 2008 and has so far managed to duck anything explosive.
There have been a few controversies, such as its purchase of 34 new BMW limousines for Cabinet ministers, but these have failed to shake its popularity.
If anything was to affect this lead it would have been the Budget.
Tinkering with the likes of KiwiSaver always has the potential to cause a headache for the governing party of the day - but not this time.
A total of 48 per cent of those polled also expect the economy to improve in the next year, compared with 38 per cent last month.
All this must be frustrating for Labour.
Its support remains unchanged on 34 per cent and raises a number of questions, including whether Phil Goff is the right person to lead the party and just how much damage the Darren Hughes affair has done.
Interestingly, John Key dipped as preferred prime minister, with support dropping 2 per cent to 53 per cent - but Mr Goff's support also fell, from 11 per cent to 8 per cent.
One winner out of this latest poll is ACT.
Its leadership coup, in which former National leader and Reserve Bank governor Don Brash tipped out Rodney Hide despite not even being a member of the party, appears to have resonated with voters.
The party picked up an extra 1.4 per cent, taking it 2.5 percentage points.
It will be interesting to see how much more Dr Brash can gain in the coming months and whether he will be in a position to play a part in the next government.
But the news is not so good for the other minor parties.
Support for the Greens and Maori Party remains unchanged, at 6 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively, while support for New Zealand First dropped from 2.7 per cent to 1.6 per cent.
Based on this poll, National is in a strong position to comfortably win the November election.
All it needs is a steady-as-she-goes approach.
It will take a major scandal to torpedo its campaign.
