Support doubled for Bolger—poll

Press, 2 November 1989, Page 1

Support doubled for Bolger—poll

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

in Wellington

The demotion of Mr Winston Peters has paid dividends for the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, in the latest public opinion poll.

As a Heylen-“EyeWitness” poll of 500 people telephoned last Saturday showed,-Mr Bolger had doubled his personal support from 6 to 12 per cent on the previous poll. , Support for Mr Peters dropped from 19 to 16 per cent, and the rating for the Prime Minister, Mr Palmer, fell from 31 to 27 per cent.

The poll was taken after a week of turmoil in the National Party after Mr Bolger’s removal of Mr Peters from the Opposition’s front bench.

Appearing on television night after night was just the sort of exposure Mr Bolger needed to raise his public profile. On the other hand, Mr Palmer had spent a lot of the previous two weeks overseas, and then

had some time off in Nelson. Both he and the Labour Party suffered from his lower profile. Labour fell from 44 to 41 per cent while National rose from 49 to 54 per cent, extending the gap between them from five to 13 points. However, there was also a big jump in-the undecided vote — from .24 to 31 per cent. This shows extreme volatility in the electorate and a resentment towards the Labour Government that transcends any feelings about the National Opposition.

The poll results for the parties were extrapolated out to make 100 per cent. As a true measure, the results have to be brought back to give the parties their share of the 69 per cent of respondents who expressed a party preference. That gave National 37.26 per cent support, compared with 37.24 per cent in the previous poll, while Labour fell from 33.44 to 28.29 per cent. There was virtually no change

in support for National, while support for Labour fell by the increase in the uncommitted vote.

All voters were asked who they preferred as leader of the National Party, and 27 per cent chose Mr Peters, 26 per cent lyir Bolger, and 4 per cent Miss Ruth Richardson. . , .*....

The identified National voters werit 30 per cent for Mr Peters, 38 per cent for Mr Bolger, and 4 per cent for Miss Richardson; while the identified Labour voters went 29 per cent for Mr Peters, 20 per cent for Mr Bolger, and 4 per cent for Miss Richardson. Voters were also asked which party they would support with different people as leaders of the National Party. With Mr Bolger as leader, 52 per cent supported National and 44 per cent Labour; with Mr Peters, 58 per cent supported National and 38 per cent Labour; and with Miss Richardson, 48 per cent supported National and 47 per cent Labour.