Politics live Q&A: Claire Trevett and Thomas Coughlan answer your questions as National overtakes Labour in latest poll; cost-of-living debate heats up

National Party leader Christopher Luxon in Hawke's Bay on January 18, 2022. Photo / Warren Buckland

Christopher Luxon may have Covid, but his week couldn't have ended on a higher note.

Fresh off a state of the nation speech that put National's focus squarely on the cost of living, Luxon learnt on Thursday that his party had pulled off an epic turnaround and overtaken Labour in the latest 1News Kantar poll.

National surged 7 points to 39 per cent, while Labour dropped 3 points to 37 per cent. It's the first time National has been ahead of Labour since February 2020, a month before the Covid pandemic tore through the world and New Zealand was plunged into lockdown.

As political editor Claire Trevett said in a follow-up piece: "That is a massive shift in just four months. And once a new leader gets momentum, it tends to snowball as Ardern herself knows. People like to back a winner."

Got questions? We asked Claire and senior political reporter Thomas Coughlan to drop by this morning for a live Q&A with Herald Premium subscribers.

• Thanks for your great questions - we've closed submissions now because we only have Claire and Thomas until 1pm.