Palmer now most popular for P.M.

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 3

Palmer now most popular for P.M.

The new Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, has instantly become the public’s most preferred politician for the post he now holds.

Mr Palmer’s personal ranking — consistently modest until now — has risen 20 points in the latest “New Zealand Her-ald-National Research Bureau poll. He stands as the most preferred for Prime Minister, with the support of 23 per cent of those polled, nine points clear of Mr Winston Peters who was the most popular politician in the previous poll. Mr Peters remains the most highly regarded Opposition member of Parliament, though his public standing has fallen six points since April. The ranking of the Opposition leader, Mr Bolger, continues to languish around 6 per cent and Mr Lange now musters only 5 per cent. The poll was taken over five days to August 24, a fortnight after Mr Palmer’s election by the Government caucus to fill the office vacated by Mr Lange. Despite her election to the post of Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Clark has recorded only 1 per cent popularity, on a par with

Miss Ruth Richardson, Mr Jim Anderton and Sir Robert Jones.

The poll was conducted among 2000 eligible voters selected by random probability from the 20 main population centres. They were interviewed face to face. Those who identify themselves as Labour supporters give Mr Palmer 43 per cent support. Mr Lange remains the preferred Prime Minister of 10 per cent of Labour voters, and Mr Roger Douglas commands the support of just 5 per cent. Mr Peters is preferred by 31 per cent of National

voters, well ahead of Mr Bolger with the support of 20 per cent. Mr Douglas

finds no significant preference among National voters.

Respondents 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, subject to a maximum statistical sampling error of 2 per cent, and tabled with the results of previous polls were:

The leadership nominations for respondents who said they would vote for one or other of the main parties were: Would currently vote

Copyright 1989 — the ‘‘New Zealand Herald Tomorrow: The issues as voters see them now.

Aug ’89 % April ’89 % Sep ’88 % May ’88 % Dec ’87 % June ’87 % Mr Palmer 23 3 5 7 5 3 Mr Peters’ 14 ' 20 16 8 1 3 Mr Bolger 6 7 6 11 11 9 Mr Lange 5 11 22 18 27 32 Mr Moore 4 3 4 1 1 1 Sir Robert Muldoon 3 4 6 8 9 14 Mr Douglas 3 4 1 1 — -— All others 10 6 7 7 12 10 Don’t know 22 23 20 26 24 22 None 10 15 11 12 9 9

Lab Nat Preferred politician for Prime Minister % % Mr Palmer 43 5 Mr Lange 10 1 Mr Peters 5 31 Mr Bolger — 20 Sir Robert Muldoon 1 8 Mr Moore 7 2 Mr Douglas 5 1 Mr Anderton 1 1 Ms Clark 2 —