Support for P.M. strong

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 1

Support for P.M. strong

With the election now 12 days away, support for the National Party leader, Mr Muldoon, has again increased as the voters' first choice for Prime Minister. At 30 per cent support, he stands at only one point below his highest rating since the last General Election.

The Social Credit leader, Mr Beetham, has slid three points from his best-equal rating in mid-September and now holds 13 per cent of voters’ support for Prime Minister. He is a shade ahead of the Labour Party leader, Mr Rowling, whose support is unchanged at 12 per cent. But with the addition of 6 per cent support for Labour’s Deputy Leader, Mr Lange, the Labour Party team jointly holds a five-point lead over Mr Beetham.

The poll figures are subject to a maximum statistical sampling error of plus or minus 2 per cent. Among the “all others,” a 1 per cent popularity level was recorded by the Minister of Justice (Mr McLay), the Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger), the Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Maclntyre), the Labour Party spokesman on constitutional affairs (Mr G. W. K. Palmer), and the Minister of Health (Mr Gair). Mr Muldoon is rated more highly by men ,(33 per cent) than by women (28 per cent). He receives his highest ratings among Wellington City residents (36 per cent), people aged 55 and over (34 per cent), and National supporters (71 per cent). His lowest ratings occur in the Christchurch provincial area and Dunedin City (22 per cent), among people aged 25 to 34 (26 per cent), and among Labour supporters (3 per cent). Mr Rowling is rated more highly by women (13 per cent) than by men (12 per

Predictably, support has again declined for Mr Taiboys, the former National Party Deputy Leader, who will retire at the election. The proportion of “don’t know" responses is 20 per cent, just below the average of 21.25 per cent in 12 polls. Those are the main findings of a “New Zealand Herald”-National Research Bureau survey held throughout New Zealand from October 31 to November 4. The survey covered 2000 eligible voters selected by random probability methods in the 20 main population centres. People were asked: “If you were able to vote for any politician in New Zealand to be Prime Minister, for whom would you vote?" Their answers, compared with those in other polls, were:—

cent). He receives his highest ratings in Christchurch City (20 per cent), among people aged 55 and over (16 per cent) and among Labour supporters (40 per cent). His lowest ratings occur in the Dunedin provincial area (5 per cent), among people aged 18 to 24 (9 per cent),. and among National supporters (none). Mr Beetham is rated more highly by men (16 per cent) than by women (9 per cent). He receives his highest ratings among Auckland City residents (16 per cent), among people aged 25 to 34 (17 per cent), and among Social Credit supporters (50 per cent). His lowest ratings occur in the Christchurch provincial area (9 per cent), among people aged 55 and over (9 per cent), and among National supporters (3 per cent). —Copyright, 1981 — The “New Zealand Herald.” TOMORROW: How people assess New Zealand’s “top 10” problems.

Nov 81 % Sept 81 % Julv 8f Ma v 8f Mar 81 % Jan 81 Nov 80 July 80 % Mav 80" Nov 79 % Julv 79' Mav 79 Muldoon 30 29 27 30 31 •24 23 24 24 22 18 16 Beetham 13 16 12 12 14 16 14 9 10 13 11 12 Rowling 12 12 11 12 9 9 9 10 13 12 17 17 Lange 6 '6 6 6 9 10 14 10 13 6 6 Taiboys 2 3 5 3 2 2 y 4 5 5 5 Minogue 2 2 2 1 2 2 - 1 — — — ■* All Others 9 9 8 7 . 8 8 8 7 7 7 13 12 Don’t Know 20 19 21 23 20 23 18 24 22 20 22 23 None 6 4 8 6 7 7 10 8 9 8 8 9