NZ Parliamentary Opposition: National/ Act NZ/ Maori Party (47%) ahead of Labour/ Greens (46.5%) for the first time

Act NZ is the most popular party for men aged 18-49

Support for New Zealand’s Labour/Greens ‘coalition’ government was down 3.5% points to 46.5% in November as support for the Labour Party dropped 3.5% points to 36%. Support for the Greens was unchanged at 10.5%. This is the lowest level of support for Labour since the election of the Jacinda Ardern-led Government in October 2017 with 36.9% of the vote.

For the first time since the election support for the Parliamentary Opposition National/ Act NZ/ Maori Party has now overtaken the Government at 47% in November, up 3% points since October. However, it is worth noting there is no formal agreement between these three opposition parties.

Support rose for all three opposition parties with National up 0.5% points to 26.5%, Act NZ up 1.5% points to a new record high of 17.5% and support for the Maori Party hitting its highest for over five years since January 2016, up 1% point to 3%.

New Zealand’s largest city of Auckland was in an extended lockdown throughout the month of November, and it is only this week that bars, restaurants and gyms in the city are re-opening after being closed for more than three months.

The big political event in November came right at the end of the month when National Leader Judith Collins lost a vote of no confidence last week and lost the leadership of the party. 

Despite the combined support of National/ Act NZ/ Maori Party overtaking Labour/ Greens for the first time in November this has not been because of an increase in support for National. Since last year’s NZ Election National support has increased by 0.9% points while support for Act NZ has more than doubled, up by 9.9% points to 17.5%. 

A small minority of 6.5% of electors support other minor parties outside Parliament with support for New Zealand First unchanged at 2.5%, The Opportunities Party up 0.5% points to 1.5% and support for the New Conservative Party down 0.5% points to 1% in November.

This latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Poll on voting intention was conducted by telephone – both landline and mobile – with a New Zealand-wide cross-section of 951 electors during November. Electors were asked: “If a New Zealand Election were held today which party would receive your party vote?” Of all electors surveyed 5.5%, up 1.5% points, did not name a party.

New Zealand Government Confidence Rating drops 8pts to 101.5 in November – the lowest since Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister four years ago in late 2017

The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating dropped by 8pts in November to 101.5 to be at its lowest since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came to office four years ago in October 2017. The drop in Government Confidence came after the Auckland lockdown was extended throughout November.

In November only 46% (down 2% points) of electors said New Zealand was ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to 44.5% (up 6% points) who said New Zealand was ‘heading in the wrong direction’.

The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating for New Zealand was down by 1.4pts to 96.6 in November and is below the latest Consumer Confidence figure in Australia of 106.0 on November 28/29, 2021 as restrictions in Australia ease and international travel to and from the country resumed.

Women favour Labour while men are far more likely to support Act NZ

Support for the Labour/ Greens coalition (46.5%) and the Parliamentary Opposition National/Act NZ/ Maori Party (47%) is hard to split in November, but there continue to be key gender differences that show each party has a different base of support when considered by gender and age.

Support for Labour remains high amongst Women at 43.5% - over 15% points ahead of National (26.5%). Women aged 18-49 (43.5%) and 50+ (43.5%) are equally supportive of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party.

Support for their coalition partner the Greens is heavily related to age. An impressive 15.5% of women aged 18-49, and men aged 18-49, support the Greens. However, this support drops off substantially for older voters with only 4% of women aged 50+ and 6% of men aged 50+ supporting the Greens.

The story is perhaps even more interesting for men. Support amongst men is split fairly evenly between Labour (28%), National (27%) and Act NZ (25%) with 20% of men supporting other parties.

For younger men Act NZ is the most widely supported party with nearly a third of men aged 18-49 (30%) supporting the David Seymour-led party. In second place is Labour on 23.5% just ahead of National on 21.5%.

In contrast, for older men aged 50+, their support is split almost equally between National (33.5%) and Labour (33%). Under a fifth of older men support Act NZ (19%).

The Maori Party is heavily reliant on women aged 18-49. More younger women support the Maori Party (7.5%) than support Act NZ (6.5%). Support for the Maori Party is at 2% or less for all other gender and age groups analysed.

Party vote analysis by Gender & Age

*The Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is 100 plus the difference between the percentage of Kiwis who say the country is “heading in the right direction” and the percentage who say the country is “seriously heading in the wrong direction”.

Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is 111 for Women compared to only 91 for men

The party support trends are confirmed by the latest Roy Morgan Government Confidence figures which are far more positive for younger women than anyone else.

The overall results for the genders show that 49.5% of women say New Zealand is ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to only 42% of men. Only 38.5% of women say New Zealand is ‘heading in the wrong direction’ compared to a majority of 51% of men.

Overall, this produces a Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating of 111 for women compared to only 91 for men – a gap of 20 points.

A large majority of 56% of young women aged 18-49 say New Zealand is ‘heading in the right direction’ compared to only 34% that say New Zealand is ‘heading in the wrong direction’. This produces a Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating of 122 for women aged 18-49.

However, the Roy Morgan Government Confidence Rating is in negative territory below the level of 100 for women aged 50+ (99.5), men aged 50+ (94) and is lowest of all for men aged 18-49 (89).

Michele Levine, CEO Roy Morgan, says the long honeymoon for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has finally ended with support for Labour crashing to 36%, below their level of support at the 2017 New Zealand Election (36.9%) for the first time:

New Zealand Party Vote: 2020-21

Source: Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source. January 2020 – November 2021.
Base: New Zealand electors aged 18+. Average interviews per month = 930.

New Zealand Party Vote: NZ Govt. v Parliamentary Opposition

Source: Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source. January 2020 – November 2021.
Base: New Zealand electors aged 18+. Average interviews per month = 930.

Roy Morgan NZ Government Confidence Rating vs. ANZ-Roy Morgan NZ Consumer Confidence

Source: Roy Morgan New Zealand Single Source. January 2020 – November 2021.
Base: New Zealand electors aged 18+. Average interviews per month = 930.

Voting Intention Summary
The following table compares the latest New Zealand Roy Morgan Polls on Voting Intention with the result from the October 17, 2020 General Election:

*The 1996 Election was the first New Zealand Election contested via MMP (Mixed Member Proportional). At the 1996 Election the Greens Party contested as part of the “Alliance” political grouping with four other political parties.
**The Maori Party was launched in July 2004. The Opportunities Party (TOP) was launched in November 2016.

Two-Party Preferred: Labour Party-led Government vs. Parliamentary Opposition Parties

*At the 2020 NZ Election the Labour party secured 50.01% of the vote which was enough to govern in their own right but Labour opted to sign a ‘Cooperation Agreement’ with the Greens, who won 7.86% of the vote. There were three Parties elected to Parliament not in Government led by National (25.58%), Act NZ (7.59%) and the Maori Party (1.17%).

For comments or more information about Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Voting Data and profiles of supporters of Labour, National and other parties, please contact:

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