New poll: NZ First in kingmaker position as both Labour, National slip back

NZ First on 7.1 per cent would have the balance of power in the election in the latest poll. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The last poll before the election has shown Labour's progress up the polls has stalled almost ten points short of National - but National has also slipped back a tad, giving NZ First leader Winston Peters the kingmaker position.

On the Newshub Reid Research poll, National is on 45.8 per cent while Labour is on 37.3 per cent. National has slipped two points since the last poll on September 12 while Labour is down only slightly.

However, the Green Party has moved up from below the five per cent threshold to 7.1 per cent - and between them Labour and the Greens have 44.4 per cent.

NZ First was also on 7.1 per cent and would have the balance of power.

The other small parties barely registered - the poll had The Opportunities Party on just 0.9 per cent, the Maori Party on 0.4 per cent and Act on 0.6 per cent - bad news just two days before the election.

The Maori Party result would not be enough to get co-leader Marama Fox back into Parliament if Te Ururoa Flavell holds his electorate seat.

English's personal popularity had also increased - in the preferred Prime Minister stakes he had gone up 1.5 points to 34.7 per cent and was well ahead of Labour's Jacinda Ardern who was slightly down at 29.6 per cent.

National appears to have stemmed the damage Labour was threatening to its support levels - but Labour is still in coo-ee of government.

In last night's debate, English was pleading for supporters to "cut out the middle man" saying it should be the voters' right to choose a government - not Winston Peters'.

At and event on the Auckland waterfront yesterday, Peters was still refusing to say which party he would work with.

The poll of 1000 people was taken between September 13 and 20 - 750 were surveyed by telephone and 250 by internet panel. It has a margin of error of 3.1 per cent.

It is the final public poll of a cliffhanger which has seen the polls bounce around between Labour and National and the smaller Greens and NZ First parties squeezed to the edge of the five per cent survival threshold.

The Reid Research poll follows Labour's attempt to fend off ongoing attacks by National over its tax proposals and claims National was using 'fake news' of a hole in Labour's budget to try to discredit Labour.

While Labour planned to cancel National's tax cuts and restore rates to the levels people pay now, Ardern had ruled out income tax increases and a backtrack that it would not implement any new taxes until at least 2021 - giving voters a chance to vote on them in 2020.

English has redoubled his claims of a hole in Labour's fiscal plan, saying after last night's debate that it does not provide for any extra spending in areas other than health and education and would effectively be an "austerity" budget in other departments.

The Reid Research poll follows last night's 1News Colmar Brunton poll which had National on 46 - well ahead of Labour which had dropped back down to 37 points while NZ First had also dropped down to 4.9 per cent - meaning it would need to keep leader Winston Peters' Northland seat to get back into Parliament.

On that poll the Green Party had lifted to either per cent - meaning both National and Labour would have still required NZ First to form a Government.

Ardern's personal popularity had also dropped from 34 to 31 per cent while English was up five on 37.