Winston Peters rubbishes polls as NZ First surges in support in election year voter sampling

Winston Peters has ridiculed current polling numbers amid a promising result for New Zealand First, saying he’d rather focus on his party’s efforts to secure real votes.

Despite NZ First posting one of its strongest results in years, Peters has dismissed the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll as unreliable and “unprofessional”.

Published yesterday, the RNZ-Reid Research poll puts NZ First in third place at 9.8%, behind Labour on 35% and National’s 31.9%.

NZ First also returned its best-ever result in the most recent Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, released on January 22, with the Herald‘s Jamie Ensor describing the party’s rise as “remarkable considering it’s currently at the heart of government”.

When asked about the latest poll results, which have also seen Peters rise up the preferred Prime Minister ranks, the NZ First leader refused to celebrate the figure, telling Herald NOW’s Ryan Bridge today that he doesn’t “waste my time talking about unprofessional polls“.

Peters pointed to wide discrepancies between New Zealand polls as a sign they lack credibility.

How poll respondents would use their party vote if a general election was held tomorrow. Photo / RNZ

“In other democracies where there’s a gap of 3% or more between the pollsters, they get together and sort out their criteria,” he said.

“Here we have 10, 14% sometimes, and no one gives a professional darn about telling the New Zealand people the truth.”

Peters rejected suggestions that the poll should be taken simply as a positive sign, claiming inaccurate polling had historically undercounted NZ First’s support.

“I’ve been in situations where they’ve said we’re on 1.8% and later we’re on 10.8%. If they’d told the truth in the first place, maybe we’d have been on 20%.”

The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll has NZ First in third place on 9.8%, with Winston Peters also rising in the preferred Prime Minister ranks. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Despite brushing off the numbers, Peters used the time to draw a line in the sand ahead of the election, ruling out any cooperation with Labour, Te Pāti Māori and the Greens.

He described Te Pāti Māori as a party “based on race”, and said NZ First would not work with the leadership of parties he accused of cheating and lying during the last Labour-led government.

It likely leaves NZ First aligning with the National-led coalition, although Peters declined to speculate, arguing the election was still months away.

“Why don’t we consult the public first, let them decide?”

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