KEY POINTS:
National holds a lead over Labour in an opinion poll published today.
The National Business Review UMR poll showed National on 43.2 per cent support, comfortably ahead of Labour on 37.4 per cent.
A month ago, the same poll showed the main parties neck and neck with National on 41.7 per cent and Labour on 41.4 per cent.
During the past six weeks polls have shown conflicting results, with TV One's Colmar Brunton survey putting National well ahead and TV3's TNS poll giving Labour a narrow lead.
A Herald and DigiPoll in September had National ahead on 45.7 per cent with Labour lagging on 38 per cent.
The National Business Review interpreted its poll as evidence that voters are still upset with Labour over the election spending row and the Taito Phillip Field affair.
It considered Prime Minister Helen Clark's landmark speech on climate change at Labour's annual conference at the end of October did not compensate for those issues.
Today's poll showed the Greens at a strong 8.6 per cent, which is in line with other recent polls, and all the other minor parties below 5 per cent.
The UMR poll was conducted between October 30 and November 5, and questioned 750 voters. It has a margin of error of 3.6 per cent.
- NZPA, NZHERALD STAFF
