Chris Hipkins' poor poll results are a "pretty normal" part of politics, former Labour MP Andrew Little says.
Hipkins' role as Labour leader took a blow with the latest 1News Verian poll showing a 10% drop for him in the preferred prime minister stakes.
He dropped from 25% in the last such poll before the election, down to 15% in today's results.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon remained steady on 25%.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, Little said the incumbent prime minister always rates particularly well, so the poll results are no surprise.
Former Labour MP Andrew Little told Breakfast the party is still in a transition period. (Source: Breakfast)
"There's nothing here to be particularly phased about, this is pretty normal in the political cycle."
Asked if Hipkins is still the right leader for Labour, Little said Hipkins still carries a lot of confidence from the party.
"The party is in a transition obviously going from government to opposition, it's got to regroup and it's in the process of doing that."
He said the reality is when there's a new government on the block and new personalities emerging, they will always have more attention than an old government of familiar faces.
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, former National MP Wayne Mapp said Hipkins will "never become prime minister again".
"He must know in his heart he's never going to be prime minister again, he's had his one shot."
Mapp said National's results were "solid", and he expects the party to continue being "dominant" in the three-party coalition with ACT and New Zealand First.
Later on Breakfast, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he didn't pay "too much" attention to polls.
When asked about the opposition leader's result and whether Hipkins should resign, Luxon said he was focused on governing.
"Those are issues for Chris Hipkins and for the Labour Party, frankly."
Yesterday Hipkins said he is not contemplating when he will resign as leader after his preferred prime minister result tanked by 10%.
He said the result wasn't what he experienced "on the ground" and people had seen less of him in recent months.
"There's still a very strong level of support that I'm getting when I'm out and about."
He said polls fluctuated and what mattered was the next election.
"Naturally, I'd love it to be higher but I also accept that I'm not the prime minister and therefore I'm not in the media as much."
SHARE ME