In the preferred Prime Minister stakes, Prime Minister John Key had 74.8 per cent of men supporting him last week. This week 65.4 per cent of men support him. Last week, 11.9 per cent of men supported David Cunliffe. This week, 17.1 per cent support him. Winston Peters last week had the support of 5 per cent of men. This week, he has the support of 8.4 per cent of men.
Major events during the polling period include two televised small-party leaders' debates and the Press debate between Mr Cunliffe and Mr Key.
PARTY PREFERENCE BY GENDER
PREFERRED PRIME MINISTER
Labour has gained some ground in Auckland - it is up from 19.2 per cent last week to 24.3 per cent - but National continues to dominate in the city, with 55.6 per cent of the vote. In the rest of New Zealand its vote stands at 45.1 per cent, down from 48.1 per cent last week.
PARTY PREFERENCE: AUCKLAND V THE REST OF NZ
The Green Party appears to be stronger in the rest of New Zealand than in Auckland. Its share of the vote in Auckland has fallen 4.7 percentage points since the previous Digipoll to 7.1 per cent. Outside Auckland its vote has grown from 11.1 per cent last week to 13.8 per cent.
When the results are broken down according to age, we can see a rise in popularity for NZ First among 18- to 39-year-olds and those aged 65 plus. National is strongest among those aged between 40 and 64, while Labour and the Greens are strongest among younger voters.
PARTY PREFERENCE BY AGE
The party vote: National 48.6 (down 1.5), Labour 24.6 (up 0.8), Green 11.5 (up 0.1), NZ First 8.1 (up 2.1), Conservatives 3.8 (no change), Internet-Mana 2.3 (down 1.2), Maori Party 0.7 (up 0.3), Act 0.3 (down 0.1), United Future 0 (down 0.3), Legalise Cannabis 0 (down 0.1).
PARTY PREFERENCE
PARTY FORTUNES SINCE JUNE 2014
• The poll of 750 eligible voters was conducted between September 4 and 10. The party vote is of decided voters only. Undecided voters were 9.1 per cent. The margin of error is 3.6 per cent.