Age no barrier for Jacinda Ardern, new poll says

Nearly half of New Zealanders don't think Jacinda Ardern's relative youth has any bearing on whether she's fit to lead the country, a new poll shows.

And one in five people believe the Labour leader's age could be an advantage in a 21st-century government.

If Ardern, 37, becomes Prime Minister on Saturday she will be New Zealand's youngest in 161 years.

But 44 per cent of people in a Herald ZB Kantar TNS poll said her age should have no bearing on how voters view her.

Another 22 per cent said her age could be an advantage as a Prime Minister in a modern government.

On the opposing side, 28 per cent said she was too young and inexperienced as a political party leader to take on the top job.

Older people were more likely to think she was too young for the role - 43 per cent of over-60-year-olds said her age was a disadvantage.

The younger generation was less likely to be bothered about her age. More than three-quarters of 18-to-29-year-olds either said her age was irrelevant or that it was a positive.

Ardern has been an MP for three terms, before which she was a staffer for Labour MPs Phil Goff and Helen Clark, a policy advisor in the UK, and the head of the International Union of Socialist Youth.

When she took on the leadership seven weeks ago, she accepted she was a "young proposition for the party".

But she highlighted her 20 years' experience "in and around politics", nine years as an MP, and a "pretty diverse rural background".

The poll of 1000 people took place between September 13 and 19 and has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.