New Zealand’s Ardern seen cruising to victory in election

New Zealand’s ruling Labour Party has lost some support since July as the coronavirus resurged in Auckland, but it is still set to win the upcoming general election on Oct 17 comfortably, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.

The 1News-Colmar Brunton poll showed support for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s party, which is seeking a second term in office, at 48%, down 5 percentage points since the last poll in late July.

The opposition National party also lost 1 percentage point taking it to 31%, under newly elected leader Judith Collins.

Ardern and Collins will face each other in the first live TV debate for the election later on Tuesday.

Ardern has called it a ‘COVID election’ and focused her campaign on highlighting the government’s success is tackling the health and economic challenges thrown up by the pandemic.