Flavell sitting comfortably in latest poll

Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell. Photo / Ross Setford

Waiariki candidates agree there's only one poll that counts and that's on election night.

The Maori Television Reid Research poll of 500 voters was released this week and showed 50 per cent would vote for incumbent MP and Maori Party co-leader Te Ururora Flavell compared with 21 per cent for the Mana Movement candidate Annette Sykes. Labour's candidate Rawiri Waititi polled 17 per cent and NZ Independent Coalition Pat Spellman 2 per cent.

The poll was taken between July 23 and August 14 and had a margin of error of 4.38 per cent.

"I'm pretty pleased with the results, it's always good to get a poll up that you can put out publicly," Mr Flavell said.

"It's confirmed some of the stuff we've been receiving through our tele-polling and door knocking. It's confidence building and good for our team."

The poll also asked what political party people would vote for and whether the Maori Party should work with the Mana Movement.

Ms Sykes said the only poll she was focusing on was on September 20.

"The days of landline polls are over. They do in no way, shape, or form, accurately reflect the mood of Maori electorates," she said.

"In Waiariki there are over 30 per cent of voters according to the 2013 Census who do not have access to a landline. If you need proof that landline polls are inaccurate, you only need to look at the one conducted for Te Tai Tonga at the last election. More and more Maori are using cell phones instead of landlines."

Ms Sykes said the movement had commissioned their own poll from an independent company that used landlines and online questionnaires and provided a very different picture.

"Te Ururoa has gone down. The most recent poll began in July - that's two months ago - before Dirty Politics was published and before the saga that has seen the ethics of the current government questioned to the point of implying corruption at the highest level."