Sceptical of most anything emanating from beneath the rafters of Massey Agricultural College, it was with some cynicism that I was drawn to the ‘Pre-election Survey’, accompanied as it was by images, allegedly, of the major protagonists, on Stuff.
In the header we had a clear question, and a choice between some form of statuesque and bronzed Boadicea (believe me, she’s not that orange in real life) and a pastier, crustier, Crusher. My suspicion deepened as early as Question 5: “There have been calls to remove statues…blah, blah…colonialism”, set me thinking ‘What the heck does that have to do with the upcoming election? Nevertheless, I battled forth and slew the survey.
The results are in today’s Sunday Star-Times. Collins’s impact has been remarkable:
“Prior to the leadership change the number of people responding to the survey who said they would probably vote National stood at 23.7%. After Collins took over that number jumped to 40.2%“
Impressive.
Asked which leader the respondents felt closest to, Muller had rallied just 10.0% support; post-Muller, Collins attracted 31.7%.
Interestingly, when asked about the government’s economic response to Kung-Flu, respondents revealed just 51.0% support for the coalition’s financial trajectory. That number will fall markedly as the redundancies kick in.
Ladies, gentlemen, in-betweens: it looks like we will have us a contest come September. There is hope.
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